Politics

A coalition of advocacy organizations sued the Trump administration Monday over President Donald Trump's executive order requiring Americans to present proof of citizenship to register to vote. Such a requirement — beyond exceeding the president's authority over state-run elections — would effectively silence the voice of college students registering for the first time, unsheltered voters and Native voters, argued the Arizona Students' Association, one of the parties to the lawsuit.

"We really saw firsthand what it looks like in Arizona if we do have these onerous citizenship requirements, so we really wanted to be a part of the voice fighting back to make sure that doesn't happen across the country," Kyle Nitschke, the organization's co-executive director, told Salon, referring to a now-blocked state law that also requires proof of citizenship. In a statement accompanying the lawsuit, he described Trump's order as a "clear attack on our voting rights," arguing that a federal proof of citizenship requirement would further disenfranchise college students.