The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in ongoing federal litigation against President Donald Trump’s executive order on voting, which aimed to restrict voter access nationally under the guise of election integrity.
The motion places the RNC alongside the Trump administration in defending measures that would roll back mail-in voting, impose proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration and penalize states that don’t comply.
“The RNC intervenes as a defendant in this case to vindicate its own rights and in a representational capacity to vindicate the rights of its members, affiliated voters, and candidates,” Michael Ambrosini, the RNC’s Chief of Staff, stated in a sworn declaration submitted with the motion.
Ambrosini argued that expanded mail-in ballot access and insufficient voter roll maintenance harm Republican electoral prospects and drain critical party resources. One of its central claims is that mail ballots received after Election Day give Democrats a competitive edge.
“Late-arriving ballots that skew heavily in favor of one party undermine confidence in the integrity of the election, dilute the timely votes of Republican voters, and harm the RNC,” the filing states.
The statements underscore a tacit admission that more accessible voting disproportionately hurts Republican candidates.
The motion also pushes discredited claims about voter registration rolls, arguing that failure to purge voters degrades their outreach efforts.
“Registering unqualified voters, failing to remove ineligible voters harms those efforts,” the filing states, echoing familiar false narratives about widespread voter fraud.
In April, a federal judge blocked two major provisions of the order — halting changes to the federal voter registration form and barring agencies from imposing additional citizenship checks — but allowing enforcement of the Election Day mail ballot deadline to proceed.