After Arizona officials signed a consent decree agreeing to let voters who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship on their state voter application forms vote in federal elections anyway, Arizona saw an “explosion” of voters casting federal-only ballots. The soaring numbers coincide with millions of illegal immigrants flooding into the United States.
Lawsuit, Consent Decree Cripple Arizona Election Integrity Laws
Twenty years ago, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, also known as the “Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act.” At its core, the election integrity initiative required proof of U.S. citizenship to vote and photo identification at polling places. Prop 200 has come under constant assault from leftists fighting against the Arizona Constitution’s key qualification to vote in elections: U.S. citizenship.
The challenge went all the way to U.S. Supreme Court, where in 2013 the justices ruled 7-2 that states could not add documentary proof of citizenship requirements to federal election registration forms. States must “accept and use” the standardized federal voter registration form for national elections under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The NVRA form, developed by the federal Election Assistance Commission, does not require proof of citizenship. It only asks that an applicant “aver, under penalty of perjury, that he is a citizen.”
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But the opinion, authored by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, opened the door for states to vet voters. Scalia wrote that states “retain the
