Arizona can reject voter registrations without citizenship proof, court rules

A three-judge panel on Thursday allowed Arizona to enforce a law that requires state voter registration forms that lack documentary proof of citizenship to be rejected. The court stayed an injunction that had forced the state to register those applicants as federal-only voters.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that “appellants … have satisfied the standard for a stay pending appeal with respect to the portion of the injunction barring enforcement of A.R.S § 16-121.01(C). “

Section 16-121.01(C), which the court ruled may be enforced, stipulates that “any application for [state] registration shall be accompanied by satisfactory evidence of citizenship … and the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall reject any application for registration that is not accompanied by satisfactory evidence of citizenship.”

The ruling means that county recorders are no longer required to register an applicant as a federal-only voter if he tried to register with a state form but could not prove his citizenship. The panel did deny Republicans’ request to prevent individuals who used a federal registration form from voting in the presidential race and voting by mail.

Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen celebrated the ruling as a “victory for election integrity.”

“Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in our elections,” Petersen said in a statement shared on X. “It sounds like common sense, but the radical left elected officials in our state continue to reject this notion, disrespecting the voices of our lawful Arizona voters.”

Arizona voters approved Proposition 200 in 2004 which required documentary proof of citizenship and photo identification to vote. The Supreme Court ruled in 2013, however, that states could not require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and must use the standardized federal form, which simply asks each applicant to check a box affirming he is a citizen. Arizona responded by creating a separate state registration form which does require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship.

A 2018 consent decree, however, forced the state to still register voters who used a state form but didn’t proof of citizenship as a federal-only voter. Federal-only voters may vote in presidential elections.

During the 2020 presidential race, in which President Joe Biden won the state by 10,457 votes, 11,600 federal-only ballots were cast, according to AZ Free News. There are currently more than 35,000 Arizonans who are registered to vote via a federal-only ballot, according to KAWC.

In 2022, Arizona Republicans passed HB 2492, which includes Section 16-121.01(C) and states that potential registrants must have “provided satisfactory evidence of citizenship” in order to register to vote using a state form.

Now, a voter who fails to prove he is a citizen when trying to register with a state form will not be automatically permitted to still vote in federal elections. Voters who initially register with a federal form, however, are still not required to provide documentary proof of citizenship.

Thursday’s decision overruled a May ruling from the District Court for the District of Arizona that had found the statute violated federal law.

Left-wing voting groups such as Mi Familia Vota had sued the state in 2022, naming Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes as a defendant, to challenge the statute. Petersen is also named as a defendant, as is Attorney General Kris Mayes, in the consolidated case. The Arizona Republican Party also stepped in as an intervenor to defend the statute.