PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes held a joint news conference Thursday afternoon and gave details about a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the recent elections executive order. According to The Associated Press, it’s part of an effort by Democratic officials in 19 states.

“This EO is an unacceptable and unconstitutional intrusion on the rights of states and the power of Congress by an out-of-control executive branch hellbent on destroying 250 years of precedent,” said Mayes. “Clearly, Trump only supports state’s rights when it suits him.”

According to state Democratic officials, the lawsuit stands to challenge key provisions in the order, including those that aim to alter ballot-counting laws to exclude mail-in ballots received after Election Day. While Arizona law does require ballots to be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, they say the order could impact the ability to cure ballots as allowed under Arizona law.

The lawsuit also says that threatening to withhold funding for reported noncompliance with Trump’s order violates the Constitution because it aims to control the states’ powers. Forcing states to change, the suit says, would violate the broad authority the Constitution gives states to set their own election rules. It says they decide the “times, places and manner” of how elections are run.

“If President Trump wanted to make laws, then he should have run for Congress where the U.S. Constitution says that work is done,” said Fontes. “The Constitution also says elections belong to the states. If the President wants to reshape our elections, he must propose realistic bipartisan legislation in Congress instead of forcing states into unfunded mandates through unlawful executive orders.”

In recent days, the Democratic National Committee and a pair of nonprofits filed two separate lawsuits calling the president’s recent executive order to overhaul the nation’s elections “unconstitutional.” Both lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ask the court to block Trump’s order and declare it illegal.

Democrats argue that millions of Americans do not have easy access to their birth certificates, about half don’t have a U.S. passport, and married women would need multiple documents if they had changed their name. That was a complication for some women during recent town elections in New Hampshire, the first ones held under a new state law requiring proof of citizenship to register.

Not all REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses designate U.S. citizenship.

What does Trump’s executive order do?

The order says the U.S. has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protections” and calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply.

Trump’s order directs federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and the State Department, to share with election officials federal data that could help them identify noncitizens on their rolls.

It also says the attorney general should “prioritize enforcement of federal election integrity laws” in states that don’t share information about suspected election crimes with the federal government.

The order’s documentary proof of citizenship requirement signals that the president is not waiting for congressional Republicans to pass their long-anticipated Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which has aimed to do the same thing.

What’s next?

The fate of Trump’s order may be in the courts, given that the Constitution gives authority over elections to the states. Congress has the power to “make or alter” election regulations, at least for federal office, but the Constitution doesn’t mention any presidential authority over election administration.

This multi-state lawsuit is being led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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