A second federal lawsuit filed in response to Arizona’s new law requiring proof of citizenship to vote alleges at least one provision of the election legislation has no valid purpose except to harass some citizens who are not native-born.
Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2492 into law on Wednesday. It outlines steps to prevent non-citizens from registering to vote in Arizona and seeks to prevent currently registered voters from casting a ballot in state and local elections as well as the election for U.S. President if their voter registration file does not reflect proof of citizenship.
The next day Mi Familia Vota filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HB2492. Then on Friday, several organizations led by Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) joined in another lawsuit also challenging provisions of the new law that limit the eligibility to register to vote to those who provide documentation of U.S. citizenship.
One claim in the LUCHA lawsuit is that HB2492 intentionally discriminates against naturalized U.S. citizens by “imposing burdens on such voters to establish their eligibility” to vote that are not imposed on native-born U.S. citizens. The lawsuit also contends that requiring someone to include their place of birth on a voter registration form “serves no purpose other than to single out naturalized U.S. citizens for harassment, including by election and law enforcement officials.”
Like Mi Familia Vota, LUCHA contends HB 2492 is unconstitutional. But Andrew Gould, a former Arizona Supreme Court justice, says the lawsuits are not supported by the facts nor the law, and that HB2492 is constitutional.
“The current lawsuits appear to assume that it is unconstitutional to disenfranchise non-citizens,” Gould said Friday. “Of course, non-citizens have never had a right to vote under the Constitution, and so it is absurd to argue that HB2492 takes away a legal, constitutional right to vote from anyone.”
Gould, who is a Republican candidate for Arizona Attorney General, noted the U.S Supreme Court has previously held that substantial regulation of elections is constitutional, and that states have considerable leeway in protecting the integrity of the elections process.
“Requiring proof of citizenship to vote is a neutral, reasonable, non-discriminatory restriction that operates to exclude one group: non-citizens,” he stated.
READ GOULD’S FULL STATEMENT HERE
The legal challenges to HB2492 have garnered pushback from many who find it insulting that anyone would be against ensuring only U.S. citizens take part in America’s elections.
Yuma businessman Gary Snyder noted that men and women over the generations have fought to defend “the right to freely elect the people who best represent us.”
Snyder told Arizona Daily Independent he is deeply disappointed that progressive organizations are trying to devalue the votes of his friends, community, and family members who are U.S. citizens.
“It is unimaginable to think that their efforts could be diminished by a whole bunch of high price lawyers in a matter of minutes,” he said.
Similar sentiments were expressed Friday by Yuma area school board member David Lara.
“As an elected official, and someone who has stood before the voters and asked them their support, I am disgusted by the left’s campaign to attack the integrity of our elections,” Lara said. “By giving people who don’t have the right to vote that sacred right, we dilute the power of the people – the American people. Nothing should dilute that power, or in any way diminish the value of our votes.”
And political activist Sergio Arellano says the idea of making it easy for anyone who illegally enters the country to have the privilege of voting for the leader of the free world is antithetical to everything he believes to be good and just.
“My parents made tremendous sacrifices to ensure that I would be an American citizen, and in return I fought for this country and her people,” Arellano said, adding that he did not fight then just to stand by now watching the destruction of voter integrity.
“I fought and bled for the freedom to vote,” he said. “The concept is that all Americans, citizens of these United States, are created equal. Americans -first, second, and third generations of them- inherently disavow unfair behavior.”
READ MORE ABOUT MI FAMILIA LAWSUIT HERE