This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has joined a coalition of 21 states in suing President Donald Trump, launching a far-reaching legal challenge to a new executive order that critics say could upend how elections are run across the country just months before the 2026 midterms.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the lawsuit argues that Trump’s March 31 order unlawfully attempts to reshape voter eligibility and mail-in voting by directing federal agencies to create a national list of approved voters — and limiting ballot distribution to those on that list.
“This is a blatant attempt by Donald Trump to sow confusion and distrust in our democratic processes and to influence the midterm elections for his own personal gain,” Jones said in a statement.
He added that the president’s order does not affect balloting for Virginia’s April 21 redistricting referendum. Early voting is already underway, and state leaders sought to reassure voters about the integrity of the current process.
But if left in place, the order would disenfranchise voters in the November election, Jones said.
“This fearmongering and arrogation of states’ authority is plainly unconstitutional. I’m proud to join attorneys general across the country in defending the right to the franchise and to use every legal tool available to us to stop the president’s illegal power grab,” he said.
According to the complaint, Trump’s executive order directs the United States Postal Service to transmit mail ballots only to voters included on a federally maintained eligibility list — a move the attorneys general argue would override existing state voter rolls and election procedures.
The order also threatens state officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding if they fail to comply.
The coalition contends that such directives conflict with longstanding constitutional principles that give states primary authority over administering elections.
While Congress has some authority to regulate federal elections, the lawsuit argues, the president cannot unilaterally impose sweeping changes without legislative approval.
Legal scholars and election experts have long emphasized that the decentralized nature of U.S. elections — with states and localities controlling voter registration, ballot access and vote counting — is a core feature of the system.
Disputes over election administration have intensified in recent years, particularly following the expansion of mail voting during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent political battles over access and security.
The attorneys general argue the executive order would force states to abandon or significantly alter their existing systems for maintaining voter rolls and administering absentee ballots. All states involved in the lawsuit currently allow eligible voters to cast ballots by mail under their own laws and procedures.
State and federal law entitle all eligible voters to cast ballots and have their votes counted, the complaint states. Mail voting, the coalition notes, is widely used by voters across the political spectrum, including the president himself.
The complaint warns that states would be forced to overhaul election procedures within weeks of primary contests and just months before mail voting begins for the 2026 general election.
That compressed timeline, attorneys general argue, risks “confusion, chaos, and distrust” while potentially disenfranchising eligible voters.
The coalition’s lawsuit asks the court to block the federal government from implementing or enforcing the executive order, arguing it violates the separation of powers and unlawfully interferes with state-run election systems.
