Grand Canyon Times

An emergency motion filed by the Republican National Committee, along with Republican members of the Arizona House of Representatives and Senate in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, seeks to require proof of American citizenship for those in Arizona casting votes for federal office – arguing that “proof of citizenship to vote is common sense and promotes integrity in our elections.”

The motion, introduced by the RNC, Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert, 12), seeks the federal appeals court to uphold House Bill 2492 and House Bill 2243, which were passed in 2022, became law in 2023 and made several changes to Arizona’s voter registration laws.

“Requiring proof of citizenship to vote is common sense and promotes integrity in our elections. This week, joined by the RNC, I filed an emergency motion in the Ninth Circuit to stay the district court’s injunction, so that AZ can enforce its common-sense citizenship laws in the 2024 General Election,” Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma (R-Glendale, 27) said, in a post on X.

HB 2492, in part, requires county recorders, who are responsible for processing voter registrations, to reject Arizona’s state-specific voter registration form submissions that lack documentary proof of citizenship. It also prohibits voters who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship from voting by mail and in presidential elections.

Mi Familia Vota and Voto Latino challenged those voter registration changes in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona’s Phoenix Division, and a long-standing legal battle ensued.

In September, U.S. District Court Judge Susan R. Bolton granted partial summary judgment in the challengers’ favor, finding that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 pre-empted HB 2492 – insomuch that HB 2492 prohibits voters who lacked documentary proof of citizenship from voting for president or by mail.

Bolton further concluded that “if a county recorder receives a voter registration application that lacks documentary proof of citizenship, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Arizona v. Reagan Consent Decree requires him or her to search the Arizona Department of Transportation database, and if proof of citizenship corresponding to the applicant can be located, the applicant must be registered as a full-ballot voter…[and] if the applicant’s citizenship status cannot be determined, he or she will be registered to vote only in federal elections.”

In October 2023, the RNC, Toma and Petersen moved that the district court convert its summary judgment rulings into a partial final judgment, so that they could seek immediate review of those rulings well in advance of the 2024 elections.

Bolton denied that motion in March and entered a final judgment in May, which levied an injunction on the relevant provisions of HB 2492 from being implemented or enforced in connection with the upcoming general election on Nov. 5, 2024.

The overall ruling in the case, reached in late February, is also on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, and the RNC, Toma and Petersen requested Bolton rule by June 14 to put the May injunction on hold, until the larger appeal is decided by the Ninth Circuit.

When that deadline came and went, they filed the emergency motion, citing early voting beginning in Arizona on July 3 and its primary election taking place on July 30.