{"id":2190459,"date":"2024-03-01T16:40:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T21:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-affirms-arizonas-need-to-keep-noncitizens-off-voter-rolls-but-makes-it-harder-to-do-so\/"},"modified":"2024-03-01T16:41:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T21:41:04","slug":"court-affirms-arizonas-need-to-keep-noncitizens-off-voter-rolls-but-makes-it-harder-to-do-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-affirms-arizonas-need-to-keep-noncitizens-off-voter-rolls-but-makes-it-harder-to-do-so\/","title":{"rendered":"Court upholds Arizona&#8217;s voter roll restrictions for noncitizens, but raises barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-affirms-arizonas-need-to-keep-noncitizens-off-voter-rolls-but-makes-it-harder-to-do-so%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2190459&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n    <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A federal judge on Thursday acknowledged Arizona\u2019s \u200dinterest in\u200b keeping its voter rolls free of noncitizens,\u200c while simultaneously hampering laws designed \u200bto do just that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsidering\u2063 the evidence as \u2062a\u2062 whole, the \u2062court concludes that Arizona\u2019s interests in preventing non-citizens from\u200c voting and promoting public confidence in Arizona\u2019s elections\u2063 outweighs\u200b the \u2062limited burden voters might encounter when \u200brequired to provide\u201d documentary proof of citizenship, <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/wireStory\/arizonas-new-voting-laws-require-proof-citizenship-discriminatory-107706570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> U.S. \u2062District Judge Susan Bolton, disagreeing with the attempt\u200c by President Joe\u200c Biden\u2019s\u200b Justice Department to \u2063paint Arizona election integrity laws as \u201cdiscriminatory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But at the same time,\u2063 Bolton \u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2024-02-29-Order-dckt-707_0.pdf\">struck down<\/a> or \u2063handicapped\u2063 a \u200bhandful of \u2064Arizona\u200c laws \u200ddesigned to \u200censure that only Arizona\u200d citizens are on the state\u2019s voter rolls, including a provision of H.B. 2243 \u200bthat directed county recorders who\u200b have \u201creason \u200cto believe\u201d \u200cvoters\u200c are not citizens to investigate, and\u2063 potentially remove, those individuals from the voter rolls.<\/p>\n<p>The state \u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/legtext\/55leg\/2R\/laws\/0370.pdf\">law<\/a> required the \u2064county recorder to compare persons \u201cwho are registered \u2063to vote in that \u2063county\u200c and\u2062 who \u2063the\u2063 county\u2063 recorder has reason to believe \u200care not United States citizens and persons who are register to vote without satisfactory evidence of citizenship as prescribed by Section 16-166 with the [SAVE] Program maintained by the United States\u200c Citizenship\u200b and Immigration\u2064 Services to verify the citizenship status of the persons registered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bolton ruled that because\u200d the SAVE database only covers naturalized\u200b citizens rather\u200c than native-born citizens, \u2063it violates the National Voter\u2063 Registration Act and Civil Rights Act. Arizona may, however,\u2064 still investigate \u201cregistered voters who have not \u200bprovided\u201d documentary proof of citizenship.<\/p>\n<p>Bolton also\u200d ruled that Arizona \u201cmay not reject State Form registrations that lack an individual\u2019s state or country of \u200dbirth,\u201d arguing that \u201ccounty recorders \u2062do not use birthplace information \u2062to determine an applicant\u2019s eligibility to vote, \u200cnor do county recorders need birthplace to verify an applicant\u2019s identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, \u2064the ruling \u200creinforced a <a href=\"https:\/\/tucson.com\/news\/state-regional\/government-politics\/arizona-presidential-election-2024-2020-citizenship-proof-court-ruling\/article_88b82350-534e-11ee-b710-d7c5a62895a8.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2018 consent decree<\/a> that individuals who fail to provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) on the state form must then be registered as \u201cfederal only\u201d voters, rather than\u2062 have their registration applications \u2063rejected completely. \u2064Bolton expanded that decision\u2064 to include \u200cindividuals who\u200d fail \u2062to provide proof \u2063of residency for the \u200bstate form.<\/p>\n<p>In \u2063September, Bolton had <a href=\"https:\/\/tucson.com\/news\/state-regional\/government-politics\/arizona-presidential-election-2024-2020-citizenship-proof-court-ruling\/article_88b82350-534e-11ee-b710-d7c5a62895a8.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">struck down<\/a> Arizona statutes requiring DPOC to vote in presidential elections and to vote by mail.<\/p>\n<p>Republican \u200dNational Committee spokesman Gates McGavick said \u200din \u2064a statement\u2064 to The\u200c Federalist that\u200b the\u2064 RNC \u2062would appeal the decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArizona has some of the strongest laws on the books \u200dto\u2062 protect\u2063 against noncitizens voting in elections, which is why the Biden Justice Department and left-wing\u2064 activist groups filed eight lawsuits challenging them,\u201d\u2062 McGavick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal court\u2019s\u200c decision in these cases yesterday and in\u2062 September striking many of these \u2062provisions down undermines election integrity and voter\u200c confidence\u200c in elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Arizona Has Seen \u2062a Massive Spike\u200c In Federal Voters With No Proof of Citizenship<\/h2>\n<p>Arizona voters \u200bapproved Proposition 200 in 2004 that required documentary proof \u2064of citizenship \u2062and photo identification \u200cto vote. Several challenges\u200b from\u200b left-leaning organizations arose\u2064 and the\u200d case\u200d made its way to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>The high court \u2064ruled 7-2 in 2013 that\u2062 states could not require proof of citizenship to register \u2064to vote in federal elections.\u200c As my\u2063 colleague M.D. Kittle <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/19\/ballots-cast-without-proof-of-citizenship-exploded-after-lawfare-crippled-arizona-election-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>States\u200b must \u2018accept\u2063 and use\u2019 the standardized \u2063federal voter registration form for national \u200celections\u2063 under the 1993 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/103rd-congress\/house-bill\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Voter Registration Act (NVRA)<\/a>. The\u2062 NVRA form, developed by the federal Election Assistance Commission, does \u200cnot require proof of citizenship. It only\u2064 asks that an applicant\u2063 \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/570\/1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aver, under \u2063penalty of perjury, that he is a citizen.<\/a>\u2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But the late Justice Antonin Scalia did say states \u201cretain the flexibility\u2063 to design and use\u200b their own registration forms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arizona responded by allowing \u2063voters who \u200cregistered using federal voter\u2062 registration\u2064 forms without providing documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to register \u200bas \u201cfederal-only\u201d voters, who\u2062 are only eligible to vote in presidential \u2064and congressional races. Arizona required DPOC for voters who registered using\u200b the state registration forms. However, in 2018 the\u2062 state \u201cwas forced to not only accept\u200b federal-only applications lacking proof of citizenship\u200c but also grant a federal-only registration to applicants who used a state form but couldn\u2019t provide proof of citizenship,\u201d as Kittle noted.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/19\/ballots-cast-without-proof-of-citizenship-exploded-after-lawfare-crippled-arizona-election-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scot Mussi<\/a>, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, said the pause in proof\u200d of\u200c citizenship saw an \u201cexplosion of federal only voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the 2018 midterm roughly \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/azmirror.com\/briefs\/few-voters-use-federal-only-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,700 people<\/a> in Arizona voted using a\u2063 federal-only ballot. That number was 11,600 in 2020, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/azfreenews.com\/2021\/09\/over-11600-no-proof-of-citizenship-required-federal-ballots-cast-in-2020-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AZ Free News.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2020\/results\/state\/arizona\/president\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">won<\/a> Arizona by \u200c10,457 votes.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans in the state legislature responded \u2062by passing two\u200c election integrity bills that, among other things, require DPOC for\u2062 voting in presidential elections \u2062and require county recorders to reject any \u200bapplications using the state forms that do not include DPOC.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden \u200dDepartment of \u2064Justice (DOJ) <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/12\/elon-musk-rightly-says-arizona-doesnt-verify-federal-voter-citizenship-but-the-feds-dont-let-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued the \u200bstate<\/a> and argued Arizona\u2019s DPOC \u2062requirement contradicted the \u20622013 Supreme Court decision and NVRA. \u200bThat case was \u200dcombined with a\u200d handful\u200d of cases \u2063brought \u2062by leftist groups, and the laws\u2019\u2062 enforcement had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2023\/09\/15\/doug-ducey-signed-laws-that-ban-certain-people-from-voting-by-mail-or-in-state-elections\/70857991007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blocked<\/a> \u2063while parties awaited Thursday\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u2063How\u2063 has the number of federal-only voters in Arizona changed since 2018,\u200d and what concerns does this raise about the \u2062integrity of the state&#8217;s elections?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Nship-exploded-after-lawfare-crippled-arizona-election-laws\/&#8221;>Data from the\u200c Arizona\u200b Secretary of\u200c State&#8217;s \u200coffice<\/a> shows that the number of federal-only voters has skyrocketed in the state since\u2063 2018. In 2016, there were\u200d only 191\u200b federal-only voters in Arizona. By 2020, that number had surged to over 45,000. This significant increase has\u2064 raised concerns\u200b about the\u200c integrity of the state&#8217;s \u200celections and the potential for noncitizens \u200dto \u200bhave a say in the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>The recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has brought these concerns to the \u200bforefront once again. While acknowledging Arizona&#8217;s interest in maintaining voter rolls free of noncitizens, \u200dBolton struck down or limited several laws designed to \u2063ensure that only Arizona citizens are on the state&#8217;s voter rolls.\u2064 This includes a provision of H.B. 2243 that directed county recorders to investigate and\u2064 potentially \u2062remove individuals from the\u200d voter rolls\u200c if there is\u2064 reason \u200cto believe they are not citizens.<\/p>\n<p>One of the\u200d main\u2063 issues raised in the ruling is the use of the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program. The\u2064 state \u200blaw \u200brequired county recorders to compare registered voters with the SAVE program to verify their citizenship \u2064status. However, Bolton ruled that because the SAVE database only covers naturalized citizens and not native-born citizens, it violates federal voting laws. As a result, Arizona may still investigate registered voters who have not \u2063provided documentary\u200d proof of citizenship, but the use\u2062 of the SAVE program is not \u200ballowed.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling also addressed the requirement for individuals to provide their state or country of birth \u2064on the registration form. Bolton ruled that county\u200b recorders do not use this information to \u200cdetermine eligibility or \u200bverify \u200didentity, so the lack of birthplace information should not be a reason to reject\u200d registration.<\/p>\n<p>This ruling has sparked controversy and backlash\u200b from Republicans who argue that it \u2062undermines\u2063 election integrity and voter confidence. The Republican National Committee has announced that it will appeal the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona&#8217;s\u2062 experience with the federal-only\u2062 voter category highlights the ongoing debate surrounding voter identification and proof \u2063of citizenship. While many argue that these measures are necessary \u2063to protect the integrity of elections and ensure that only eligible citizens participate, others contend that such laws disproportionately affect minority and marginalized communities, leading to voter suppression.<\/p>\n<p>As the legal battles continue, the question \u200dof how to strike the right balance between preventing noncitizen voting and ensuring equal access to the ballot remains unresolved. The\u2064 outcome of these court cases will have implications not \u2064only for Arizona but for \u200cthe broader national conversation on voting rights \u200band election integrity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal judge recognized Arizona&#8217;s concern for maintaining citizen-only voter rolls, despite hindering laws aimed at achieving this. After reviewing the evidence, the court determined that Arizona&#8217;s priority of preventing non-citizens from voting and ensuring public trust in elections outweighs any minor inconvenience voters may face<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2190460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/49669288816_9fd7e27ec0_k-e1709309181756.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2190459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/49669288816_9fd7e27ec0_k-e1709309181756.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2190459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2190460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2190459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2190459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2190459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}