In turnaround, judge who blocked Trump’s last anti-voting order won’t hear challenge to new one
Democracy Docket • • nation
Key Points:
- A federal judge ruled that challenges to President Trump's new anti-voting executive order must be randomly reassigned, reversing an earlier decision that consolidated the cases under Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
- The DOJ argued the cases should not be assigned to Kollar-Kotelly because the new lawsuits differ from the previous case she presided over, which had blocked Trump's March 2025 anti-voting order.
- Judge Kollar-Kotelly stated the earlier case is on appeal and the new executive order is distinct, so the cases do not have to remain with the same judge.
- Trump's latest order proposes a federal database to verify voter citizenship and new mail-in voting rules, which critics say could restrict voting access for eligible Americans.
- The procedural change introduces uncertainty in the legal challenge, though prior court rulings affirm that election control primarily resides with states and Congress, not the president.
