The Arizona Republican Party (Arizona GOP) joined President Donald Trump in the legal battle to require proof of citizenship to vote.
Chairwoman Gina Swoboda announced the Arizona GOP’s involvement on Wednesday. The state party filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts District Court last week.
“The American people expect secure elections, not open invitations to fraud,” said Swoboda. “Arizona has led the nation with proof-of-citizenship laws for two decades, and we stand firmly behind President Trump’s efforts to protect the ballot. This is about safeguarding every legal vote — and stopping those who want to dilute it.”
Arizona has led the nation on voter citizenship laws for 20+ years—and we’re standing strong again. @AZGOP just filed an amicus brief supporting @POTUS order to require proof of citizenship to vote. 🇺🇸
— Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) June 5, 2025
Trump issued Executive Order 14248, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” in March. Trump’s order directed the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to require within its national mail voter registration form documentary proof of citizenship as well as require state or local officials to record that applicants presented documentary proof of citizenship.
Per the president’s executive order, proper documentary proof of citizenship would only include U.S. passports, identification documents compliant with the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005, official military ID cards indicating an applicant is a U.S. citizen, or a valid federal or state government-issued photo ID indicating the applicant is a U.S. citizen or if the ID is otherwise accompanied by proof of citizenship.
The president also directed the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Government Efficiency to review the voter rolls and records of each state to verify citizenship and immigration status. Trump also directed each federal voter registration executive department or agency head to assess citizenship prior to providing federal voter registration forms to enrollees of public assistance programs.
Trump’s order also put an end to the acceptance of tardy ballots — the president restricted the reception of absentee and mail-in ballots to the Election Day deadline.
States who refuse to comply with the executive order would cease to receive federal funding.
Several left-wing organizations filed suit against the Trump administration in April to stop the order: the Brennan Center, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of D.C., Asian Americans Advancing Justice, LatinoJustice, and Legal Defense Fund. These organizations filed on behalf of League of Women Voters of the United States, the League of Women Voters of Arizona, League of Women Voters Education Fund, Hispanic Federation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.
That same month, a federal court issued a ruling temporarily blocking the executive order.
The Arizona GOP amicus brief argued the EAC maintains statutory authority to require documentary proof of citizenship in voter registration, and that the executive order merely enforced existing laws rather than creating new ones.
While the Arizona GOP has issued its support of the president’s election policy, Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes have been fighting against it. Mayes and Fontes joined a 19-state coalition to sue Trump over that executive order.
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In a time when confidence in our democratic institutions teeters on the edge, one principle must remain sacred: the sanctity of our elections. Our Republic is only as strong as the faith our citizens place in the ballot box. That’s why the passage of the SAVE Act (H.R. 22) is not only timely—it is essential.
The SAVE Act draws directly from the foundation laid by President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” That order highlighted what every American knows instinctively: fair and secure elections are the bedrock of our constitutional republic. President Trump made it clear that foreign interference, voter fraud, and systemic vulnerabilities are not just possibilities—they are threats we must meet with resolve and action. (RELATED: Stephen Miller Says Democrats Just Dropped ‘One Of The Dumbest Talking Points’ Yet Against SAVE Act)
H.R. 22 codifies into law many of the critical protections championed in that executive order. From requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections, to enhancing voter roll maintenance and mandating transparent election audits, the SAVE Act is a clear response to the growing concerns of voters across the political spectrum. It closes loopholes and modernizes our electoral systems to meet today’s challenges with strength and clarity.
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act with bipartisan support. That vote sent a clear and resounding message to the American people: election integrity is not a partisan issue—it is a national imperative. Now, the responsibility lies squarely with the United States Senate. The time for debate is over. The Senate must act swiftly, pass the SAVE Act, and send it to President Trump’s desk so he can sign it into law.
But passing legislation is only half the battle.
To truly safeguard the integrity of our elections, the SAVE Act must be implemented rigorously at the state level. This isn’t merely a matter of policy—it’s a matter of national security. Every Secretary of State and every election official across the country must treat the integrity of the ballot as the solemn responsibility it is. More importantly, state attorneys general must rise to the occasion and enforce this law with unwavering commitment.
The role of a state attorney general should go beyond consumer protections and civil enforcement. In this era, a top-priority mission must be the preservation of free and fair elections. Attorneys general must be fearless guardians of our electoral process—investigating fraud, holding bad actors accountable, and defending laws like the SAVE Act in court if necessary. Anything less is an abdication of their duty to the Constitution and to the people they serve.
Inaction is not neutrality—it is complicity. And when it comes to our elections, the cost of complacency is nothing less than the erosion of the public trust and the weakening of the very pillars of our Republic.
The SAVE Act offers a rare and critical opportunity to restore that trust. It deserves bipartisan support, full implementation, and vigilant enforcement. The American people are watching. They are demanding transparency, security, and fairness. We owe it to them—and to every generation that will inherit this great nation—to deliver nothing less.
Trey Trainor is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation and currently serves as Chairman of the Federal Election Commission; he was nominated as a Commissioner by President Donald J. Trump and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2020. He is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Legislative and Campaign Law and has practiced election law for over two decades.
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.
🚨BREAKING: A MAJOR WIN FOR ELECTION INTEGRITY AND THE RULE OF LAW!!!
The DOJ, under @realdonaldtrump, just filed a brief announcing they are REVERSING the Biden challenge and are no longer seeking to overturn Arizona’s documentary proof of citizenship laws!!
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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Adrian Fontes has proven himself to be good at two things during his tenure as Arizona’s Secretary of State: losing in court and throwing tantrums. It’s really unfortunate. The state’s top election official is not supposed to be taken to court on a regular basis—especially for, you know, his repeated attempts to undermine election integrity. And of course, throwing tantrums should be more characteristic of toddlers, not a government official. But Fontes can’t help himself.
In his latest tirade, Fontes joined Hillary Clinton’s old consigliere Marc Elias on Democracy Docket to whine about President Trump’s recent executive order to preserve and protect the integrity of American elections. Toward the end of the discussion, Elias asked Fontes about the multiple lawsuits against his Elections Procedures Manual (EPM), which he lost to us and Arizona Republican lawmakers. As has become all too common with our Secretary of State, he responded how you would expect someone to respond when he knows he can’t win. He attacked our organization and degraded our 15,000 activists and donors.
Yes. That’s right. The top election official in our state, who is supposed to remain unbiased and simply do his job to protect election integrity, lashed out against us and told people not to donate to us because we won our lawsuit against him and his illegal EPM.
Ummm…news flash, Mr. Fontes. One of the reasons our donors support our cause is to stop government officials like you from circumventing the law. So, when we win, they feel good because their money was put to effective use.
But we shouldn’t expect someone with such low character as Adrian Fontes to understand that. After all, this isn’t the first time he’s tried to use the power of his office to attack and intimidate organizations like ours that participate in the election process…
Congressman Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) pointed out this week the accuracy of his anticipation that Arizona Democrats would file a lawsuit seeking to block President Trump’s Executive Order 14248, entitled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections. Hamadeh described the Democrats as “the beneficiaries of Arizona’s broken election system,”
Reacting to the announcement from Arizona Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Hamadeh’s office stated that they “and their ilk across the country will go to any lengths to keep our elections processes broken.” His office also noted that the Congressman alongside his co-sponsor Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R+NY-24), who chairs the Congressional Election Integrity Caucus, have introduced legislation to support and codify the President’s election integrity agenda.
President Trump's Preserving & Protecting the Integrity of American Elections Executive Order takes historic steps to keep noncitizens from voting in elections, eliminate voter fraud, & repeal Biden's corrupt EO 14019!@RepAbeHamadeh & I introduced legislation to enshrine this…
Congresswoman Tenney posted on X, “President Trump’s Preserving & Protecting the Integrity of American Elections Executive Order takes historic steps to keep noncitizens from voting in elections, eliminate voter fraud, & repeal Biden’s corrupt EO 14019! @RepAbeHamadeh & I introduced legislation to enshrine this EO into law to ensure our elections remain free, fair, & honest.”
“The American people deserve better. They deserve to know that their legally cast ballot is counted and accounted for. I am disappointed, but obviously not surprised that Mayes and Fontes seek to thwart the implementation of commonsense safeguards of democracy,” concluded Congressman Hamadeh. “As a trusted advisor once said to me, ‘election integrity never disenfranchised a single soul, but a single act of election fraud disenfranchises us all.’”
The proposed bill, H.R. 2499, would codify Trump’s EO 14248 by ordering states to require proof of citizenship in the form of government-issued ID on voter registration forms, ordering the Departments of State and Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to provide federal database access to states for determining voter eligibility, and requiring a single Election Day deadline for vote tabulation. Each measure will carry the threat of withdrawn federal funding in the event of non-compliance. In a press release, Rep. Hamadeh stated, “In Arizona, we have seen what the mismanagement of voter rolls, failed election infrastructure, and corrupt courts can do to destroy voter confidence and faith in our system overall. We are taking swift action to rebuild citizens’ trust in our elections through comprehensive and meaningful election integrity legislation.”
