Supreme Court Allows Arizona To Partly Enforce Law Requiring Proof-Of-Citizenship To Register To Vote

On Thursday, the Supreme Court partly granted Arizona the ability to enforce a 2022 state law requiring voters to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The decision is a major milestone for Republican officials nationwide who are attempting to ensure the electoral process is secure and that voters have faith in the security of the upcoming presidential election.

The Supreme Court's decision, which was released without any explanation for its reasoning, was granted 5-4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the liberal justices in dissent. The majority agreed that the Arizona law could be partly enforced, with only one of three of its provisions being allowed to take effect. The justices concluded that officials must turn away individuals attempting to register to vote using the state's registration form if they did not have proof of citizenship. However, the court did not allow the other provisions of the legislation to go into effect, which allows individuals to register using a federal registration form.

While only one of the 2022 law's provisions was granted to go into effect, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch stated that they would have allowed the entire law to go into force. The Biden administration brought the case against the legislation after the GOP passed the law two years ago under Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ). After its passage, the Department of Justice argued that the legislation violated the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which says that voters do not need to provide documentary proof of citizenship for federal registration forms. Despite the Biden administration's argument, the court's partial granting of the law is a major victory for the Republican National Committee and Arizona Republicans.

"Huge win: the Supreme Court just ruled that the state of Arizona must REJECT state voter registration forms without proof of US citizenship," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley wrote on X. "This follows an emergency SCOTUS appeal from the RNC. A seismic win in the fight to stop non-citizens from voting -- more to come!"

The law's enforcement will likely impact around 42,000 individuals who registered to vote in "federal only" elections without proof of citizenship through the state form as of July 1. According to NBC News, Arizona election officials have explained that most of the voters are inactive and are likely to not be impacted. The Supreme Court's decision is a major victory for election integrity advocates looking to ensure that the 2024 November election is conducted with election integrity as a central focus. 

You can follow Sterling on X/Twitter here.