Supreme Court Allows Partial Enforcement of Voter Proof of Citizenship Law

Supreme Court Allows Partial Enforcement of Voter Proof-of-Citizenship Law

The justices disagree on how far the Arizona law's restrictions may go.

The Supreme Court has allowed partial enforcement of an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship for voting.

Arizona voters who want to cast ballots in state races can be required to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote, the justices ruled.

But the court also upheld a lower court ruling striking down the citizenship requirement for Arizonans who register using the federal form; those voters will be allowed to cast ballots only in federal elections.

After the citizenship requirement was enacted as part of a 2022 voter registration law, organizations including Mi Familia Vota, a nonprofit that focuses on increasing voter turnout in Hispanic communities, filed suit against Arizona in federal court. The groups argued that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, or NVRA, preempted the Arizona law. The NVRA requires states to accept and use the federal standard voter registration form, and though the law requires prospective voters to swear they are U.S. citizens, it does not require the applicant to provide proof of citizenship.

The district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, agreeing that the NVRA preempted provisions of the Arizona law related to the federal form. The court also ruled that a prior consent decree from 2018 barred the state from enforcing the requirement to provide proof of citizenship on the Arizona state forms.

The Republican National Committee appealed, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the order.

The RNC then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the lower court, and to impose two restrictions contained in the Arizona law: barring federal-only voters from voting for president and voting by mail. Justices Samual Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch would have allowed the restrictions.

Nicole Ezeh is an associate legislative director in NCSL's State-Federal Relations Division.