Arizona to Require Proof of Citizenship in Statewide Elections

Officials in Arizona are seeking to ensure that residents who cannot prove they are United States citizens do not vote in statewide elections. 

According to the Associated Press, Attorney General Tom Horne and Secretary of State Ken Bennett announced on Monday that “residents who haven’t submitted proof of citizenship won’t be able vote for such offices as governor, secretary of state, attorney general and candidates for the state Legislature.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona “couldn’t require such documentation to cast ballots for federal offices,” and the “only federal offices on Arizona ballots next year will be U.S. House seats.”

“Because Arizona law requires a registration applicant to provide evidence of citizenship, registrants who have not provided sufficient evidence of citizenship should not be permitted to vote in state and local elections,” Horne wrote in a previous opinion, according to the Associated Press. 

Lawsuits are expected to challenge the action, which Arizona Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union have already criticized. 

According to the Associated Press, “the vast majority of Arizonans register by using a state form that requires proof of citizenship, such as a driver’s license, U.S. birth certificate, passport or other similar document.” The federal registration form, though, “requires registrants only to say they’re citizens, but it doesn’t require they submit proof.”