Weiser joins lawsuit against Trump over mail-in voting executive order

By NATHAN DEAL

Nathan.Deal@gjsentinel.com

After President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order attempting to establish a national list of eligible voters and direct the U.S. Postal Service to transmit mail-in ballots only to those on the list, a coalition of attorneys general have filed a joint lawsuit.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined the lawsuit Friday, accusing Trump of attempting to interfere with states’ constitutional authority to administer elections by restricting voter eligibility and mail-in voting to lists of voters pre-approved by the federal government.

In his order, Trump said that states and election officials who do not comply face criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding. Weiser and other attorneys general from Massachusetts, California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin argue that the order would require states to act contrary to their own voter roll procedures, vote-by-mail systems and voter registration laws, thus violating the separation of powers.

The U.S. Constitution gives states the primary authority to administer their elections. Presidents are constitutionally barred from unilaterally imposing federal election procedure changes, especially without an act of Congress.

“The president’s unlawful executive order threatens the right to vote for millions of Colorado voters — Democrat, Republican, or unaffiliated — who use mail ballots,” Weiser said in a statement. “The president does not have the power to takeover elections by signing an executive order. The Constitution is clear that the states determine the time, place, and manner of elections. Colorado’s mail ballot voting system is secure and fair, and we’re now in court to protect Colorado’s elections and the freedom to vote.”

Trump has been a consistent critic of Colorado’s mail-in voting system, saying that the state rigs elections and pointing to this as justification for relocating U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.

The Daily Sentinel ran a story in September 2025 with feedback from elected officials from both major parties on Trump’s comments. Republicans (such as Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross, State Senator Janice Rich and State Rep. Matt Soper) and Democrats (U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, along with Weiser) alike defended the state’s mail-in voting systems as secure and reliable. To read this story, visit tinyurl. com/y5kbfx5m.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined a lawsuit Friday accusing President Donald Trump of attempting to interfere with states’ constitutional authority to administer elections by restricting voter eligibility and mail-in voting to lists of voters pre-approved by the federal government.