Arizona was sued Tuesday by the Department of Justice over a new law that requires people who use a federal form for registration to vote to show additional proof of citizenship to be eligible to vote in the popular vote-by mail system or for president.
Republican Gov. The law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey March 30 is directly in conflict with a 1993 federal voter register law and also violates Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the Justice Department. The law includes requirements for the federal form that was rejected in an Arizona case in 2013.
The Republican-controlled Legislature was well aware of the federal law and the Supreme Court decision written by the late conservative icon, Justice Antonin Scalia. They argued that the new law would increase election security, but they continued to work on it.
Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general in the civil rights division of the department, called January's new law "a textbook violation" of the National Voter Registration Act.
She stated that the National Voter Registration Act helped to eliminate obstacles to registering to vote.
Clarke stated in a statement that Arizona has passed a law which impedes progress by imposing illegal and unnecessary requirements that would prevent eligible voters from being registered for certain federal elections.
She said that the law is in violation of the Civil Right Act and requires election officials to reject registration forms that contain errors or leave out any information not necessary to determine a voter's right.
Ducey stated in a March 30, signing letter, that the law was intended to address an increasing number of voters who used the federal form to register but did not need to show proof of citizenship. While the state voters added the citizenship requirement to Proposition 200 in 2004, it doesn't apply to the federal form.
Federal forms require that a person swears they are a citizen. However, there is no proof required. Only federal election voting is allowed for those who use the form but do not respond to an election official's request for proof of citizenship. Although federal-only voters were just 11.600 in 2020, that number has risen since then. Arizona allows those who use the form but have not provided proof of citizenship to vote only in federal elections since the Supreme Court's decision.
C.J. Ducey, spokesperson Karamargin refused to comment, stating that the administration does not comment on litigation. In a July 1 letter, Mark Brnovich, the Republican state Attorney General, stated to the Justice Department that he would defend and protect the law.
Lawyers for the Legislature told lawmakers that many of the measures were unconstitutional and directly contradicts the Supreme Court's 2013 decision. They are likely to be rejected by the court. Only the majority Republicans supported it.
The Justice Department lawsuit is third to challenge the law since its passage. The first two challenges were filed by voting rights groups, but they have been combined into one case.
