Kentucky is now part of a multi-state group suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to federal court documents filed Thursday.
Gov. Andy Beshear is among a group of 26 Democratic governors and attorneys general accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants. The coalition argues the White House is trying to coerce states into adopting the administration’s policies on immigration and elections.
Those policies would require states to verify voter citizenship using a federal database, conduct post-election audits, transition to paper ballots and work with federal immigration enforcement.
If states don’t comply, they could lose 20% of their Homeland Security Grant Program funding, which is used for disaster preparedness, cybersecurity and anti-terrorism programs.
The coalition argues the U.S. Constitution grants states the power to administer federal elections, and they already have systems in place to ensure votes are counted fairly and accurately.
“Defendents, however, seek to upend those laws and policies, and — using hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds as a cudgel — impose the current Administration’s preferred policies in their place,” a federal court filing from the group reads.
A statement from FEMA sent to the Associated Press called the lawsuit an example of “partisan pushback,” and said the agency expects “these left-wing politicians to oppose common-sense measures designed to protect election security and safeguard the integrity of American democracy.”
Beshear, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, are the only two governors listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Both states are represented by Republican attorneys general.
Kentucky is joined by Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
Federal judges have found previous attempts to put conditions on federal funding unlawful. A federal court vacated immigration-related conditions on FEMA funding last year.
Thursday, a judge also dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that attempted to gain unrestricted access to Kentucky voter rolls. The commonwealth’s voter rolls contain sensitive information, like drivers license and Social Security numbers.
