Washington, Sept 30:
A US federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal counterterrorism funding from states that did not comply with election-related requirements imposed by the administration.
US District Judge Amir Ali ruled that federal agencies lacked authority from Congress to attach such conditions to the grants. He also said the conditions did not meet legal requirements because they were not sufficiently related to the purpose of the counterterrorism programme.
The case was brought by Columbus, Ohio; Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; and El Paso and Harris counties in Texas. They challenged conditions included in a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant programme.
Under the requirements announced by FEMA, 20 per cent of certain grants to states and urban areas would have been withheld until specified election-related measures were met.
The conditions included verifying the citizenship of registered voters and election workers, requiring jurisdictions using electronic voting systems with barcodes or QR codes to submit plans for switching to hand-marked paper ballots, and demonstrating that election results were audited.
The programme provides more than USD 1 billion to state, local and tribal governments for measures including protection against terrorism and cyberattacks. FEMA is expected to award 56 grants.
The plaintiffs argued that FEMA had no authority to use counterterrorism funding to regulate how states and counties conduct elections. Judge Ali’s ruling blocked the administration from imposing the disputed conditions through the grant programme.