Arizona Among Six States Facing RNC Lawsuits Over Never-Resident Voting
By Matthew Holloway |
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is pursuing lawsuits in Arizona and five other states challenging laws that allow some United States citizens who have never lived in those states to register and vote through a parent’s former or current residency.
The RNC has active cases in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia, and Nebraska, according to a report from the Daily Signal. The legal campaign follows a June ruling in North Carolina that invalidated a similar provision under that state’s constitution.
“If you’ve never lived in a state, you shouldn’t be voting in its elections,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters told the outlet.
“The RNC already put a stop to this unconstitutional loophole in North Carolina, and we’re taking Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, and New Jersey to court to do the same,” Gruters added. “We’ll keep fighting to ensure elections are only decided by legal residents.”
The lawsuits focus on state laws extending voting eligibility to some citizens born abroad who have never established residency in the state where they vote. The RNC said the cases do not challenge absentee voting protections for military personnel, diplomats, or other overseas citizens who previously lived in the state.
Arizona law permits a United States citizen who has never resided anywhere in the country to register in Arizona if the person’s parent is a United States citizen registered to vote in the state. The voter may use a federal write-in early ballot under Arizona Revised Statutes Section 16-103. The statute governing that ballot authorizes voting for presidential electors, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House.
The provision creates an exception to Arizona’s general voter residency requirements. Under A.R.S. Section 16-101, a registrant must ordinarily have lived in Arizona for at least 29 days before an election. State law defines a resident as a person with an actual physical presence in Arizona combined with an intent to remain.
The Arizona Republican Party, the RNC, and then-Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda filed their lawsuit against the state and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on June 30, 2025, in Maricopa County Superior Court.
The complaint, filed as Republican Party of Arizona v. State of Arizona, asks the court to declare A.R.S. Section 16-103(E) unconstitutional and prohibit the state from accepting voter registrations and ballot requests from people who have never resided in Arizona.
The complaint states, “By permitting such ‘never resident’ registrants, who, upon information and belief, are disproportionately non-Republican in their political party affiliations relative to the Arizona electorate as a whole, to cast votes in Arizona elections, A.R.S. § 16-103(E) illegally structures the competitive environment in which the RPAZ and RNC participate, and also unlawfully dilutes the voting power of constitutionally eligible qualified electors.”
Republicans argue that the statute conflicts with Article VII, Section 2 of the Arizona Constitution, which requires voters to be United States citizens, at least 18 years old, and residents of Arizona for the period established by state law.
The state, represented by attorneys from Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office and Fontes, moved to dismiss the case in July 2025, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing and that the law was enacted to provide voting access for overseas citizens under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The state noted that the provision was approved without opposition by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2005 and signed by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Herrod denied the motion to dismiss in October. Herrod found that all three plaintiffs had standing to pursue the case, although Swoboda could not rely on the complaint’s vote-dilution theory. He also ruled that the complaint stated a legally sufficient claim, writing that Article VII, Section 2(A) “can be argued to refer to time periods, not the definition of residence.” The ruling allowed the constitutional challenge to proceed without deciding whether the statute is unconstitutional. The case remains pending.
Arizona’s current Elections Procedures Manual recognizes the statutory exception and notes the ongoing constitutional challenge.
Republican lawmakers attempted to repeal the exception legislatively in 2025 through Senate Bill 1052. The measure would have removed eligibility for citizens who had never lived in the United States, but Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the bill.
In her veto letter, Hobbs wrote that the bill would “prevent U.S. citizens from registering to vote, including the children of Arizona servicemembers born overseas.”
Arizona Secretary of State guidance continues to state that a citizen who has never lived in the United States may register in Arizona when the person’s parent is also a United States citizen registered in the state. The guidance distinguishes those voters from civilian overseas voters who previously established Arizona residency and military personnel or their family members stationed outside the state.
The RNC’s broader effort follows a ruling from Wake County Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener, who held that a North Carolina law allowing some overseas citizens who had never lived in the state to vote violated North Carolina’s constitutional residency requirement, according to The News & Observer. The court granted summary judgment to the Republican plaintiffs in June.
The Department of Defense’s Federal Voting Assistance Program lists 38 states that provide some form of absentee-voting eligibility to United States citizens who have never resided in the country. Eligibility commonly depends on the residence or voter registration of a parent or legal guardian. Arizona allows a qualifying citizen to register through a parent registered in the state. Federal guidance says Arizona voters must provide documentary proof of citizenship to receive a full ballot containing state and local races; voters who do not provide that documentation remain eligible for federal contests.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.