Applaud Judge Blocking Election Conditions on Grants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from conditioning federal counterterrorism funding on states and local governments making changes to how they administer elections.

Earlier this year, FEMA announced that it would withhold 20% of funding under the Homeland Security Grant Program until jurisdictions complied with several election-related requirements. The program provides more than $1 billion to state, local, and tribal governments for efforts aimed at preventing and responding to terrorism and other security threats.

Among the conditions were requirements involving citizenship checks of voter-registration records and election workers, voting equipment, post-election audits, and ballot procedures. Columbus, Ohio; Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; and Harris and El Paso Counties in Texas challenged the conditions in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali sided with the local governments, concluding that Congress had not authorized FEMA to impose the election-administration conditions through its counterterrorism grant program. He also found that the conditions did not have the required connection to the underlying purpose of the grants.

The decision prevents FEMA from withholding the disputed portion of these counterterrorism grants based on compliance with the challenged election requirements. DHS and FEMA did not immediately comment on the ruling.

Add your name to celebrate the court ruling blocking FEMA from conditioning funding on election-administration changes and for holding Trump accountable!