On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s order that had overturned Arizona’s constitutional requirement for proof of citizenship for state registration forms and voting.
The stopped short of preventing noncitizens from voting, only stopping those trying to register using the state form if they do not provide proof of citizenship.
According to the order from the U.S. Supreme Court, Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch would have granted the application in full, allowing Arizona to not only reject state forms without proof of citizenship, but also prevent Federal Only Voters from voting for President and by mail; while Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson would have denied the application in full. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh agreed with Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch that Arizona may reject state voter registration forms without proof of citizenship.
The order from SCOTUS was issued in response to an emergency stay application filed by Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen after a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Mi Familia v. Adrian Fontes.
On August 1, a three-judge panel vacated an emergency stay decision issued unanimously by another Ninth Circuit panel on July 18. For more than two weeks, the ruling effectively allowed any individual in Arizona to use a state form to register to vote, without providing proof of citizenship, in order to cast a ballot in federal races like U.S. President and Congress.
Federal law does not currently require citizenship documentation to vote in federal elections.
This legal battle stems from progressive activists opposing two laws, written by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature back in 2022, restricting voters who don’t provide documentation confirming they are in fact legal citizens of the United States. Without Congress taking action to implement federal laws safeguarding against non-U.S. citizens from casting a ballot, the security of our democratic process for legal U.S. citizens is in grave danger as the potential remains for millions of individuals who’ve entered the United States illegally under the Biden Harris Administration to influence the outcome of our elections.
“Our legal battle is far from over,” said Petersen. “While we’re grateful SCOTUS recognized our state’s sovereignty by allowing our laws requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in Arizona be enforced, individuals who are living here illegally are still able to register on a federal form without providing proof of citizenship. They must only attest they are lawful citizens, then they are able to vote in the presidential and congressional races, as well as by mail, thus influencing the outcome of our elections. We will continue litigating this issue in the coming months with a goal of ensuring only legal U.S. citizens are casting a ballot.”
“This is a great day for election integrity and transparency across Arizona,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “The U.S. Supreme Court rightly realized that the Ninth Circuit had created mass chaos of the law and precedent just a few months before the November General Election, and that this mess could not have been cleaned up after the fall contests. Today, Arizona will be able to protect our elections from illegals voting thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court. We will continue to fight against efforts from liberal special interests to dismantle these commonsense and constitutional laws requiring proof of citizenship to vote in our elections in the Ninth Circuit and look forward to all of the provisions being eventually upheld!”