Oregon – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have strongly opposed a presidential executive order they feel would disenfranchise millions of American voters. Accompanied by various other Senate members, they have formally requested the President to rescind this order, referencing its legitimacy and potential negative effects on the democratic process.
The executive order in question adds voter registration criteria including evidence of citizenship that would disqualify many currently qualified voters. The Senators claim that over half of all Americans lack a legitimate passport and that many have name differences between their birth certificates and other legal papers. Married women, of whom up to 69 million could be impacted as their birth certificates no longer correspond with their current legal names, are especially impacted by this.
The Senators in their letter to President Trump contend that the executive order oversteps presidential power and extends on states’ election management authority. They observed that the Constitution and other current regulations mostly assign election management to the states.
Moreover, the Senators condemned the order for the potential disruption of state voter registration systems and for endangering Americans’ privacy by requiring improper data sharing with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Both agencies would be authorized to examine state and federal databases and might even file subpoenas.
The Senators also highlighted the rarity of voter fraud by noncitizens, which is already a federal crime, labeling claims of widespread fraud as unsubstantiated. They expressed concerns that DOGE’s participation might compromise the preservation of the voter registration lists, therefore jeopardizing voters’ personal information.
Apart from married women, this executive order also brings certain procedural obstacles that can disproportionately impact individuals with low incomes, rural populations, and communities of color. The letter to President Trump was spearheaded by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California and was signed by a group of prominent senators including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mazie Hirono, Angus King, Amy Klobuchar, Patty Murray, Jack Reed, Brian Schatz, Adam Schiff, Raphael Warnock, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
The Senators concluded their letter by reiterating the unlawful nature of the order and its potential to disenfranchise millions of voters, urging the President to rescind it immediately to uphold the integrity of the nation’s electoral system.
The full text of the letter is here.
