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Arizona Legislature to Delay Proof of Citizenship for Voting Bill

April 12, 2022

By Corinne Murdock |

Enactment of the proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration will be delayed until 2023, following an amendment approved by the Arizona House on Monday. The amendment was tacked on to SB1638, a bill to provide accessible voting options for the blind or visually impaired. Governor Doug Ducey signed the original bill, HB2492, into law two weeks ago. The State Senate now must approve the amendment. Without the amendment, the legislation would go in effect at the end of June — 90 days after Ducey signed the bill. 

Arizona Free Enterprise Club Deputy Director Greg Blackie explained to AZ Free News that the delay was necessary to avoid having the requirement enacted between the primary and general elections, which would allow some individuals to vote in the primary and not the general election several months later. 

Blackie added that the two lawsuits seeking a preliminary injunction of the law were another factor for delaying its enactment. Such lawsuits were expected — promised, even, by the DNC’s Russiagate hoax lawyer Marc Elias.

“It was always going to be tied up in court, and the delayed effective date might actually prevent a preliminary injunction allowing the provisions to protect our voter rolls from ineligible applicants and the required investigation by the attorney general’s office of the federal-only voter list to go into effect after this election, instead of being on hold for a trial and decision that could come much later,” said Blackie. 

The law requires that individuals provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. It also requires election officials to cross-reference applications with government databases to confirm citizenship. The law most heavily impacts federal-only voters, since they don’t have to offer proof of citizenship when voting. According to the bill sponsor, State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), there were over 11,000 Arizona voters in the 2020 election who didn’t offer proof of citizenship when voting. That number was about 1,700 in 2018. 

The amendment was approved mostly along party lines. State Representative Amish Shah (D-Phoenix) joined House Republicans to pass the amendment. 

The remainder of Democrats voted against the amendment. They held that the amendment was a fix for a “flawed” and “unconstitutional” bill. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

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