US federal judge permanently blocks Trump's voter registration order

The court argues that the Constitution of the United States does not grant a president any special powers with regard to elections. On this basis, it rejected the government's justification that the order was necessary to safeguard election integrity.

Court's reasoning: No special rights for the president

Under the provision, a proof of citizenship would have had to be presented in order to access a voter registration form. The order would thus have significantly complicated the registration process for federal elections and, according to critics, would have disadvantaged poor and mobile population groups in particular.

Documented cases of voter fraud are scarce. According to statistics, however, this is a vanishingly small problem that is practically negligible. The federal judge explicitly referred to this data situation in her reasoning.

Political background: Midterm elections in November

The Trump administration has for some time been trying to tighten election rules, also with a view to the important midterm elections in November, which has repeatedly occupied the courts. Several states and voting rights organizations had sued against various parts of the order.

Critics of Trump say that the government is trying to shape the election rules so that Republicans have better odds of defending their razor-thin majorities in the parliamentary chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The government rejects these accusations.

Outlook: Legislative process in Congress

Trump is currently trying — also in light of the fact that he has been less successful via executive orders — to ram through a law in Congress that tightens election rules. However, the legislative process has been stuck in Parliament for some time.

Trump's claim: There has allegedly been abuse in elections in the past to the detriment of Republicans through illegal voting. Evidence of coordinated illegal voting on a relevant scale has repeatedly not been confirmed by courts and election officials.

The ruling from Boston is directly binding on the affected states, but also has a signaling effect for other pending proceedings on Trump's election policy. The government announced that it would review the possibility of an appeal.