The Republican National Committee has filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court urging them to block up to 40,000 Arizona voters from casting ballots in the upcoming presidential race. This appeal is in response to Republican state lawmakers claiming these voters did not provide proof of their citizenship when they registered, and should now be barred from voting. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes argues that there is no evidence of fraud or undocumented voting, and that restricting the voting rights of these voters is undemocratic.
The Biden administration and others have also urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal, stating that acting now to restrict these voters’ rights could lead to unnecessary confusion and chaos on the eve of an election. This legal battle stems from a long-running dispute in Arizona over whether voters must furnish proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The National Voter Registration Act, passed in 1993, eased the registration process, but in 2004 Arizona required newly registered voters to provide proof of their citizenship.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that the federal motor voter law preempted the state’s law, but Arizona adopted a two-track voter registration system to work around this. The current legal battle has resurfaced as Arizona passed a new law two years ago prohibiting registered voters from voting by mail or in presidential elections if they do not provide proof of citizenship. This has sparked a contentious legal battle that could have significant implications for the upcoming election.
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