This time it is over a law requiring documentary proof of citizenship for all new voters. From the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights:
On October 26, 2010, the Ninth Circuit of Appeals issued a 2-1 opinion which found that Arizona's documentary proof of citizenship requirement for all new voter registrants violates the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA") because the NVRA mandates that states "shall accept and use" the federal voter registration form without additional documentation requirements. To read the opinion, please click here. To read the Lawyers' Committee press release on the opinion, please click here. Please see below for a complete summary of the case.
The Lawyers’ Committee and several other legal organizations represented a broad coalition of Arizonans – including the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. (ITCA), the Hopi Tribe, the League of Women Voters of Arizona (LWVAZ), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), People for the American Way Foundation (PFAWF), the Arizona Advocacy Network (AzAN), and State Representative Steve Gallardo – in Gonzales v. Arizona, where we have challenged the voting-related provisions of Proposition 200. Proposition 200 disenfranchises qualified and eligible voters by requiring citizens to present documentary proof of their citizenship status when registering to vote, and further requiring qualified and registered voters to present additional identification at the polling place on Election Day.
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The case was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on January 12, 2009. Our appeal focuses on two issues: (1) whether the proof of citizenship and/or identification requirements constitute a poll tax in violation of the Fourteenth and Twenty-Fourth Amendments and (2) whether Arizona’s refusal to accept the Federal Mail-In Registration Form unless the applicant also provides documentary proof of citizenship violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
As stated above, on October 26, 2010, the Ninth Circuit of Appeals issued a 2-1 opinion which found that Arizona's proof of citizenship requirement for all new voter registrants violates the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA") because the NVRA mandates that states "accept" the federal voter registration form without additional documentation requirements.
