[ad_1]
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to overturn Arizona’s new law which starting next year will require proof of citizenship during the voter registration process.
Citing alleged violations of the National Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, the DOJ’s civil rights division is asking a federal judge in Arizona to invalidate the proof of citizenship requirement which Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law in March under House Bill 2492. Enforcement of the law was delayed until January 2023 to avoid confusion during the 2022 election cycle.
“Arizona has passed a law that turns the clock back on progress by imposing unlawful and unnecessary requirements that would block eligible voters from the registration rolls for certain federal elections,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke wrote in the lawsuit.
A person who currently submits valid proof of citizenship with their federal or state voter registration form is entitled to vote in all federal, state, county, and local elections which the voter is otherwise eligible.
However, there is no mandate for a person to submit such proof of citizenship with the federal form. This allows such persons to be registered as “Federal Only Voters” who are permitted to cast a ballot in federal elections.
All sides agree that before House Bill 2492 was signed by Ducey, it was and still is illegal for a non-U.S. citizen to register to vote anywhere in America. It is also illegal for a non-citizen to actually vote.
The problem, according to Ducey and several lawmakers, is that there is no vetting performed at the time of registration before any fraudulent ballot can be cast. Instead, an illegible voter may not be discovered until after their ballot has been counted.
Among those supporting some sort of screening of the citizenship question is U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters.
“All you do is check a box that says, I’m a U.S. citizen, I swear,’” Masters recently said. “And that’s it. No one ever checks it.”
HB2492 details additional steps necessary for someone to get added to the voter rolls in Arizona if they use the federal registration form. There is also a requirement for the state’s 15 county recorders to verify current voter registration records against various government databases and bars the county recorders from allowing current federal only voters from casting ballots by mail.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously gave Arizona a green light on the citizenship requirement for local and state elections. Proponents of a proof of citizenship requirement for voting in a federal election point to the fact HB2492 will make more voters eligible to participate in election at the local and state level.
Data from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office shows ballots were cast in the 2020 General Election by more than 7,600 of Arizona’s approximately 23,000 federal only voters deemed “active.” There are also nearly 13,000 voters in Arizona who never attested to their citizenship status when registering in years past.
One of the most vocal and ardent supporters of ensuring citizenship at the time of voter registration is Sen. Warren Petersen, who is an attorney. He gave an impassioned speech back in March expressing frustration at the unwillingness of Democratic lawmakers to support the legislation.
“What is the issue? The issue is making sure that citizens of this country are voting and if you’re not a citizen of this country you’re not allowed to vote,” Petersen (R-Gilbert) said.
The DOJ is not the only entity challenging Arizona’s new law. The day after Ducey signed HB2492 the state was sued by several groups, including Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), and the Arizona Democracy Resource Center (ADRC). The lawsuit alleges HB2492 “imposes severe, arbitrary and discriminatory burdens on Arizona voters that undermine their freedom to vote and violate federal law.”
Attorney General Mark Brnovich has vowed to strenuously defend HB2492 from all legal challenges, including the DOJ’s.
“In addition to free rooms and transportation for those illegally entering our country, the DOJ now wants to give them a chance to vote,” Brnovich said Wednesday. “I will once again be in court defending Arizona against the lawlessness of the Biden administration.”
The attorney general also questioned the DOJ’s decision to challenge “a common sense law in Arizona designed to guard against non-citizen voting” while President Joe Biden “is simultaneously opening our borders to encourage a flood of illegal immigration.”
Similar concerns with election integrity were raised during the vote on HB2492 by Sen. Sonny Borelli who saw the lack of citizenship verification as an intentional effort to allow non-citizens to nullify the votes of legal citizenships.
“We want to make sure that the legal citizen has the right to vote and the illegal vote does not negate the legal vote,” Borelli said after voting for the bill. He added that the opposition from the ACLU confused him, as he believed the organization would want to support a bill which protects what Borelli called “the rights of the legal citizen.”
READ MORE ABOUT HB2492 HERE
[ad_2]
Source link