DOJ Ceases Legal Challenge To Arizona’s Proof Of Citizenship Laws

DOJ Ceases Legal Challenge To Arizona’s Proof Of Citizenship Laws

by | Apr 13, 2025 | News

By Staff Reporter |

The Trump administration will no longer continue its legal challenge to Arizona’s documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) laws.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a brief on Tuesday motioning to drop the case. 

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon filed the brief the very day after she was sworn into her position within the Civil Rights Division, alongside the controversial Interim Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, Timothy Courchaine. 

Senate President Warren Petersen called the development “a major win for election integrity and the rule of law” in a statement Wednesday. Petersen previously submitted a letter to the DOJ requesting they drop the case. 

“The @azsenategop and @azhousegop will continue to defend this law against the special interest groups challenging it,” said Petersen. 

Petersen submitted his request letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi in mid-February. 

The case, Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes, is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Arizona’s DPOC laws required automatic rejection of Arizona state form registration submissions lacking DPOC, prohibited individuals who hadn’t provided DPOC from voting for a president or returning a ballot by mail, and added mandatory fields to the state registration form for a registrant’s birthplace and a checkbox confirmation of the applicant’s U.S. citizenship. 

Last August, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Arizona would have to accept state voter registration forms without DPOC. 

Tuesday’s motion by the DOJ was the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to cease legal action against states’ election laws. 

Last month, the DOJ dropped multiple election-related lawsuits in Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana initiated under the Biden administration. Those lawsuits opposed voting maps and election integrity initiatives, respectively. 

President Donald Trump and his administration have also taken steps to require proof of citizenship in elections, prompting resistance from the state’s top Democratic leaders. 

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, alongside Attorney General Kris Mayes, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over President Donald Trump’s recent executive order requiring DPOC to register to vote in federal elections as well as requiring all ballots to be received by Election Day. 

Last week, Mayes and Fontes held a joint press conference announcing their lawsuit and accusing Trump of “unconstitutional intrusion” on states’ rights and congressional authority regarding elections. The pair want Trump to go through — not around — Congress for any election law changes. 

“If President Trump wanted to make laws then he should have run for congress where the U.S. Constitution says that work is done,” said Fontes. “If the President wants to reshape our elections, he must propose realistic bipartisan legislation in Congress instead of forcing states into unfunded mandates through unlawful executive orders.”

“Clearly, Trump only supports state’s rights when it suits him,” said Mayes.

Last month in another case pertaining to DPOC, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled against the Elections Procedure Manual (EPM) produced by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. Fontes’ EPM would have allowed voters who failed to submit or couldn’t achieve verification of their DPOC.

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Toma And Petersen Continue Fight In Federal Court To Require Proof Of Citizenship To Vote

Toma And Petersen Continue Fight In Federal Court To Require Proof Of Citizenship To Vote

by | May 22, 2024 | News

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona legislative Republicans are again standing for election integrity.

Last week, Senate President Warren Petersen, House Speaker Ben Toma, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a motion “for a partial stay of the injunction against the enforcement of those provisions of HB 2492 that:

1. Prohibit registered voters who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) from voting for President of the United States;

2. Prohibit registered voters who have not provided DPOC from voting by mail; or

3. Are inconsistent with the consent degree entered in League of United Latin American Citizens of Arizona v. Reagan.”

The case that the Arizona Legislature and the RNC weighed in on was Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes.

The Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus wrote, “Biden’s open border policies are causing chaos and eroding confidence in Arizona’s elections. Seems like common sense, but only American citizens should have the right to cast a ballot in our elections. Senate President Warren Petersen is fighting to block individuals who do not provide proof of citizenship from this privilege. Election integrity is being compromised, and we will not sit idly by while our state and country are run into the ground by flawed election practices. Today, we filed a motion asking a U.S. District Court to allow Arizona to enforce its laws that limit voting for president and voting by mail to only those who provide proof of citizenship.”

Speaker Toma added, “Arizona voting laws that require proof of citizenship are common-sense regulations & critical to ensuring confidence in Arizona elections. I intervened in the Mi Familia case last year to fully defend these laws in federal court. Today I asked the court to stay its injunction and allow Arizona to enforce its citizenship requirements in the 2024 election.”

“It’s common sense,” said President Petersen in an exclusive comment to AZ Free News. “If you are not a legal citizen, you should not have the right to vote in the US. Other countries prohibit non-citizens, and we should too. It is unfathomable that the Democrats and the judicial branch are fighting us on this issue.”

In a press release, the Republican National Committee noted the joint court filing, stating that it had “filed a motion to stay the court’s order, pending our appeal, that ruled Arizona cannot require proof of citizenship in mail voting and presidential elections. If successful, this means Arizona would require documentary proof of citizenship ahead of this year’s election as we fight the issue on appeal. This is a consequential legal step to stopping non-citizen voting in Arizona.”

In their brief, the intervenor-defendants argued that “the Ninth Circuit is likely to find that neither the NVRA nor the LULAC Consent Decree preempts HB 2492, [that] the partial nullification of HB 2492 irreparably injures the legislative intervenors as representatives of the state and of the legislative institution and inflicts a competitive injury on the RNC, [and that] the balance of equities and public policy support a partial stay.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.