By The Diary
Aug 22, 2024, 8:23 PM EDT
The Supreme Court has rejected the Arizona Republican Party’s request to require proof of citizenship to register new voters for the Nov. 5 election, which would have prevented thousands of people in the state from casting ballots in the presidential contest.
The Supreme Court did not explain its ruling on a lower court that barred enforcement of a law requiring voters to document their U.S. citizenship to vote in this year’s presidential election, but it did allow the state to enforce a requirement that prospective voters use a state registration form.
Republicans filed an appeal
The justices acted in response to an emergency appeal filed by state and national Republicans seeking to give full effect to election measures enacted in 2022 following Joe Biden’s narrow victory over Republican Donald Trump in Arizona, AP reported.
Voting rights experts had said Arizona would be the only state in the country to impose a proof-of-citizenship requirement for potential voters, who officials say number about 41,000 who were already registered but had not provided any documents verifying their citizenship.
Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said those thousands of voters were registered as of Aug. 9 in Arizona.
“It will create chaos and confusion”
Fontes warned in a court filing that an order favoring state and national Republicans so close to the November election “will create chaos and confusion.”
Voters most affected would be military service members, students and Native Americans, according to Fontes. About 27% of those voters are registered as Democrats and 15% as Republicans. More than half, 54%, are registered as independents, according to state data.
3 in favor 4 against
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch would have allowed the law to fully apply, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett would have joined the court’s three liberals — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — in rejecting the measure entirely, the order states.
In 2022, Arizona’s Republican governor signed a bill requiring voters to prove their citizenship to cast a ballot in a presidential election, sparking fierce opposition from voting rights advocates. A U.S. district judge blocked some requirements of the law last year.
With information from AP and CNN
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