BY MARY JO PITZL, USA TODAY \u2014 AUGUST 3, 2024<\/p>\n
In a July 1 motion to the 9th Circuit of Appeals, Arizona’s Republican legislative leaders, joined by the Republican National Committee, argued the GOP would suffer a competitive disadvantage if the state continued to register voters who attest they are citizens but don’t provide documents proving their status.<\/p>\n
They argued the percentage of Republican voters registered as federal-only is disproportionately smaller than the percentage of GOP voters statewide, giving an advantage to Democrats.<\/p>\n
In mid-July, they got a narrow win.<\/p>\n
The 9th Circuit stayed an injunction that had blocked the requirement to show citizenship papers in some instances. That meant that going forward, anyone who registers to vote with a state-supplied form must produce citizenship papers or their application will be rejected. The matter was subject to appeal.<\/p>\n
Within the first 10 days of the court’s stay, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, had rejected about 200 state registration forms due to lack of documents proving citizenship.<\/p>\n
State Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, hailed the court ruling, even though the court denied his request to block federal-only voters from voting by mail and to extend the document requirement to people who use the federal voter registration form.<\/p>\n
“This is a victory for election integrity in Arizona,” he wrote on social media. “Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in our elections.”<\/p>\n
That victory was short lived. Two weeks after that ruling from a “motions panel” of the court, the 9th Circuit reversed course, lifted the stay and directed Arizona to revert to its two-track system, where people unable to produce citizenship documents can register to vote and cast ballots in federal elections.<\/p>\n
Petersen promised an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. And he lambasted the court he had just praised, arguing its Aug. 1 order is “another example of why the radical 9th Circuit is the most overturned circuit in the country.”<\/p>\n
Within the first 10 days of the court’s stay, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, had rejected about 200 state registration forms due to lack of documents proving citizenship.<\/p>\n
Timing is important. There’s usually an uptick in voter registration ahead of a presidential election said Ceridwen Cherry. She’s the legal director of VoteRiders, a nonprofit that helps people register to vote and navigate the often complex web of state requirements.<\/p>\n
She worries the on-again, off-again requirements from the recent court rulings could deter people who want to register to vote.<\/p>\n
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