This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the Supreme Court to uphold Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting.
The DOJ filed a brief in Republican National Committee, et al. v. Mi Familia Vota, et al. (case Nos. 25-1017, 25-1019, and 25-1022).
The case will determine whether the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) prohibits states from: removing noncitizens from voter rolls within 90 days of an election, requiring individuals to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections using the state registration form, and denying individuals the ability to vote by mail if they don’t provide documentary proof of citizenship.
These questions emerged from House Bills 2243 and 2492; both passed in 2022. Together, these bills require the secretary of state and county recorders to regularly review voter rolls, mandate registrants using the state registration form provide proof of citizenship, and prohibit vote by mail for federal-only voters.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NVRA does preempt that legislation, impacting any similar citizenship proof measures taken by other states concerning their voting laws.
The federal court ruled the provisions in the Arizona laws amounted to unlawful voter suppression and were therefore unconstitutional. The court determined that voters must be allowed to vote federal ballots at least, even when they fail to provide proof of citizenship.
The respondents in the present litigation — Mi Familia Vota, Voto Latino, Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition, Democratic National Committee, and the Arizona Democratic Party — want to preempt Arizona and other states from imposing proof-of-citizenship limitations on voting.
Jesus Osete, principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in the DOJ announcement that the NVRA doesn’t prohibit states from removing noncitizens from voter rolls.
In its filing, the DOJ argued the lower court’s ruling conflicted with the NVRA since it would effectively render state forms into mere replicas of the federal form. States would lack the flexibility afforded by the NVRA, said the DOJ.
The DOJ filing argued that proof-of-citizenship requirements were harmonious with NVRA requirements to increase the number of eligible citizens registered to vote and ensure the maintenance of accurate and current voter rolls.
“When noncitizens with no right to shape American government vote in American elections, the ballot box no longer speaks for the People, because its tally no longer reflects their voice,” argued the DOJ.
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) said he was “thrilled” by the Trump administration’s intervention.
“Only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections,” said Petersen. “Excited for SCOTUS to take up this important case.”
Thrilled the Trump DOJ is backing Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirements! Only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections. Excited for SCOTUS to take up this important case. https://t.co/xWBiciTxjV
The Supreme Court has already overruled the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on one of the issues in 2024. The Supreme Court allowed Arizona to enforce its proof-of-citizenship requirement for state voter registration forms, but refused to allow enforcement of the requirement for those registering with federal forms.
That follows the precedent set in 2013, when the Supreme Court ruled that the NVRA prohibited Arizona from requiring proof of citizenship of those voters registering to vote with the federal voter registration form.
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Arizona has been working to stop noncitizens from voting in our elections for over 20 years. After years of litigation, we are near the final step in proving our model works. That’s why last month we filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 9th Circuit’s radical decision blocking our proof of citizenship laws from going into effect, and it should be an easy decision for them.
The Supreme Court told us in 2013 that we could require proof of citizenship on our own state voter registration form. They said it again in 2024, just weeks before the election. And yet, the 9th Circuit, in defiance of the Supreme Court, determined that essentially every aspect of the laws is unconstitutional, and that they were passed with “discriminatory intent.”
While we continue to wait on Congress to pass the SAVE Act, Arizona’s model is one every state can and must adopt immediately. When the Supreme Court takes the case, every obstacle will be removed for them…
In 2022, the Arizona legislature passed—and then-Governor Ducey signed into law—a landmark election integrity bill: HB 2492. Authored by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, the law bolsters safeguards to our election process by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, ensuring that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections.
It’s commonsense legislation that is popular with the public and a blueprint for other states looking to adopt nearly identical bills. And why wouldn’t it be? U.S. citizens cannot go into France, Australia, or any other country throughout the world and vote in their elections, so why should citizens from other countries be allowed to vote in our elections?
Yet immediately after HB 2492 was passed, a consortium of liberal organizations and the Biden Justice department sued to stop the law from going into effect. Now, after multiple trips to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, one of which included a bizarre ruling that required an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to let Arizona enforce our proof of citizenship requirements for the 2024 election (which we won), the entire law will now be going to the nation’s highest court.
We are confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the law in its entirety, but one issue about the litigation has been simmering beneath the surface: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes…
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a brief in support of Arizona’s law requiring proof of citizenship to vote. The intervention comes in Mi Familia Vota v. Warren Petersen, a lawsuit filed by leftist groups against two laws passed by the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature in 2022.
The laws require voters registering via the state form to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to participate in state and local elections. The DOJ’s brief backs Senate President Warren Petersen’s defense of the laws following a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that invalidated key provisions. The brief argues that Arizona’s birthplace attestation requirement “does not violate the Materiality Provision because it is generally important that an election official would consider important to the process of determining an applicant’s eligibility to vote.”
“We are thankful to again have a White House and Department of Justice committed to the rule of law and fair elections,” Petersen said in a statement. “The DOJ’s brief is appreciated in our fight to uphold a commonsense law and the will of the people. Given the clear precedent handed down from the U.S. Supreme Court, we are confident we will ultimately prevail. With the continued absence of our governor and attorney general, thankfully, the Arizona Legislature is again picking up the slack and is returning to our nation’s high court to defend election integrity.”
The case traces back to challenges by Mi Familia Vota and other groups, including some based outside Arizona, against House Bill 2492. The law bars enhances the legal guardrails of the Arizona voter registration process, ensuring that proof of citizenship is required to ensure only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: President Trump's DOJ Supports Arizona's Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote
In August 2024, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel vacated an emergency stay previously issued by another panel of the court. That decision permitted Arizona residents to register using the state form without proof of citizenship for federal races, such as U.S. president and Congress.
Petersen then sought emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed Arizona’s authority to reject incomplete registrations, marking the last binding order in the dispute until the Ninth Circuit’s latest deviation.
Eleven judges dissented from the Ninth Circuit’s most-recent majority opinion, saying, “Republican government serves as the keystone of the Constitution. In such a government, a majority of citizens who lawfully vote determines who represents us in the White House, Congress, and state legislatures. Courts must therefore defend the franchise—both by protecting the right of all citizens to vote, and by ensuring non-citizens do not vote. Arizona passed laws to protect the franchise… Sadly, the panel majority opinion undermines republican government, shreds federalism and the separation of powers, and imperils free and fair elections.”
The case now heads back to the U.S. Supreme Court for potential review, where Arizona will seek to enforce its citizenship verification requirements.
In 2022, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club crafted the blueprint to stop illegals from voting in our elections, authoring landmark legislation that was signed into law, becoming the first state in the nation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote with HB2492. Now, states around the country are taking notice and adopting our model, and just last week President Trump signed an Executive Order to do it nationally. Arizona was just the tip of the spear, and the dominoes are finally beginning to fall.
As of this week, two states require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Arizona was the first with HB2492. Earlier this year, Wyoming became the second. And now, the Texas Senate is considering a bill that is nearly identical to the Arizona Model, which would make them the third.
Arizona has long been at the forefront of this issue. In 2004, Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved Prop 200 to require proof of citizenship to vote. After nearly a decade of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed us to only implement the requirement on our own voter registration form but prevented us from requiring it on the federal form. The result over the decade following the decision was the complete proliferation of the “Federal Only Voting” list, amounting to tens of thousands of potential noncitizens registering and voting in our elections…
