DNC and Arizona Democratic Party Sue Over Arizona’s Citizenship Requirement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Aug. 15, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) filed a lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) challenging an Arizona voter suppression law, House Bill 2492. This law requires Arizonans using federal registration forms to provide documents proving their citizenship and requires election officials to provide the Arizona attorney general with a list of voters who do not provide satisfactory proof of citizenship for investigation. This applies to future registrants as well as retroactively to voters who registered when there was not a proof of citizenship requirement. H.B. 2492 also requires voters to provide their birthplace on their voter registration form.
The plaintiffs argue that H.B. 2492 violates the First and 14th Amendments by placing an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because voters will be “denied an equal opportunity as other eligible voters to participate in Arizona’s elections,” the NVRA’s requirement that states only request the minimum information necessary to register a voter, Section 8 of the NVRA by removing voters from the rolls shortly before an election, the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act because birthplace is not material “to whether the applicant meets Arizona’s voter qualification requirements” and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Democratic organizations ask the court to declare that H.B. 2492 violates these laws and prevent the defendants from enforcing this law. This is the fifth lawsuit challenging H.B. 2492 to be filed this year following Mi Familia Vota v. Hobbs, Living United for Change in Arizona v. Hobbs, Poder Latinx v. Hobbs and United States v. Arizona.