A post from Elon Musk this week drew attention to the fact that no proof of citizenship is required to vote in federal elections in Arizona — but the real scandal is even more alarming.
On the surface, Musk is correct is his assertion that “Arizona clearly states that no proof of citizenship is required for federal elections.” But that’s not necessarily by the Granite State’s design.
Election law expert Hans von Spakovsky says Arizona can thank a bad 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling for the confusion.
The high court struck down an Arizona law that required voters to show proof of citizenship in national elections. In the majority opinion (7-2), the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the state law conflicted with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which mandates states “accept and use” the standardized federal voter registration form for national elections. The NVRA form, developed by the federal Election Assistance Commission, does not require proof of citizenship. It only asks an applicant “aver, under penalty of perjury, that he is a citizen.”
In other words, the honor system.
“No matter what procedural hurdles a State’s own form imposes, the Federal Form guarantees that a simple means of registering to vote in federal elections will be available,” Scalia wrote in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc.
Scalia added that demanding the use of the more involved state form for national elections would negate the purpose of the federal registration form.
“If that is so,
