California and 19 other blue states successfully sued the federal government, permanently blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order on voter ID and mail-in ballots, state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced Wednesday. Trump had issued the executive order in March to require voters to show proof of citizenship at polling stations before casting their ballots. The presidential directive also sought to stop states from counting ballots if they do not arrive by Election Day. The Trump administration initially threatened states, saying it would withhold certain federal funding for noncompliant states. Housing 10 hours ago Trump says he won't sign bipartisan housing bill until voter ID measure passes A few days after the executive order was issued, Bonta and 19 attorneys generals filed the suit, arguing that the president and the federal Election Assistant Commission do not have the authority to force states to comply with the election directives. After a federal judge rejected the Trump’s administration’s effort to get the lawsuit thrown out, the legal proceedings continued with both sides arguing their cases before the “major victory,” according to the California attorney general. “We sued President Trump over his attempt to unilaterally impose voting restrictions across the country — and we won,” Bonta said in a statement after the ruling was issued Wednesday. “Today, a federal district court ruled that every provision we challenged in the Executive Order is unlawful and reaffirmed that the power to regulate elections is reserved to the States and Congress,” the attorney general added. “While we are proud of this result, we are clear-eyed that President Trump’s attacks on voting rights and our elections show no signs of slowing down. So let me be clear: we will keep fighting back every step of the way.”  There are local initiatives that still seek to overhaul the voter ID requirement and ballot counting process in California. Among them is the California Voter Identification, Citizenship Verification, and Registered Voter List Administration Initiative, which qualified for the November ballot in California, aiming to require voters to present a government-issued ID for in-person voting or registration. The state is also awaiting a court’s decision on another voting-related presidential executive order: the president has also released a directive to create federal requirements on who would be eligible to vote in federal elections and to restrict mail voting. California and 23 other states also sued the Trump administration, similarly arguing that running elections is a state’s responsibility, not a president’s. The court has yet to rule on the case. ...read more read less