Washington, DC – On October 31st, the Secure Families Initiative, an organization that represents active-duty military families, won a legal challenge invalidating parts of the March 25th Executive Order that would further restrict the ability for military servicemembers, their families, and overseas citizens from voting while living far away from home. Among its provisions, the Executive Order unlawfully sought to impose burdensome barriers on U.S. citizens just trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote by requiring redundant paperwork and by shrinking the timeline in which ballots can be returned.
The court’s decision stated that the President can not act unilaterally directing changes to federal election procedures because the US Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress. The Court held that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes, and permanently blocked the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) from taking any steps to implement Section 2(a) of the Executive Order, which purported to direct the EAC to require unnecessary and burdensome documents to prove U.S. citizenship on the National Mail Voter Registration Form.
“This victory is permanent,” said Brandi Jones, Acting-Co Director of Secure Families Initiative, “Generations of people throughout American history have fought to establish the right to vote for every American. Black Americans, Indigenous Americans, communities of color, and women have taken on this fight facing violence and at times death. We are proud to follow their footsteps.”
The case was filed in April 2025, when the organization joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) — represented by Campaign Legal Center and Democracy Defenders Fund. Prior to the permanent decision today, SFI, LULAC, and ASA succeeded in obtaining a preliminary injunction, which temporarily halted Section 2(a) of the executive order. SFI and its fellow plaintiffs are continuing to litigate claims challenging other provisions of the Executive Order, including those that would require similar documentation and paperwork requirements on the Federal Post Card Application (which is widely used by military and overseas voters) and a provision that attempts to overrule grace periods for mail ballot receipt deadlines in more than 15 states.
