Oral Argument Begins In Arizona Voter Suppression Law Challenge
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument on Tuesday in the ongoing legal challenge against two of Arizona’s voter suppression laws, House Bills 2492 and 2243. The lawsuit challenges several provisions of these voter suppression laws, including a restrictive documentary proof of citizenship requirement for voters.
Mi Familia Vota and Voto Latino, two pro-voting organizations, first filed a lawsuit to overturn H.B. 2492 in March of 2022, a day after it was signed into law by then-Gov. Doug Ducey (R). Before the law was enacted, Arizona residents who registered to vote using state registration forms had to provide documentary proof of citizenship, but didn’t have to if they registered to vote using federal forms, per a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. But H.B. 2492 made it so that any new voters registering with federal forms must also provide documentary proof of citizenship in order to vote in presidential elections, or vote early by mail for any office. The law also required anyone who registered to vote when there was no documentary proof of citizenship requirement to provide such documentation in order to vote in presidential elections.
The lawsuit argued that these new provisions violated the First and 14th Amendments and could potentially disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters.
The lawsuit took a number of legal twists and turns over the past two years. The case was consolidated with nine other lawsuits — Living United for Change in Arizona v. Hobbs, United States v. Arizona, Poder Latinx v. Hobbs, Democratic National Committee v. Hobbs, AZ AANHPI for Equity Coalition v. Hobbs, Promise Arizona v. Hobbs and Tohono O’odham Nation v. Brnovich — that challenged related portions of Arizona’s other voter suppression laws.
After these cases were consolidated, the lawsuit also challenged House Bill 2243, which required county recorders to cancel a voter’s registration if they receive any information proving that a voter is not qualified to vote or if the county officials have any reason to believe that a voter is not a U.S. citizen. In September of 2022, a federal court temporarily blocked the implementation of H.B. 2243. And in February of this year, a federal court struck down provisions of both H.B. 2492 and 2243.
But in May Republican intervenors — led by the Republican National Committee (RNC) — appealed the ruling to the 9th Circuit, and asked the court to pause the lower court’s previous ruling that temporarily blocked provisions of the two voter suppression laws. Eventually, the Republican intervenors asked the Supreme Court to get involved and reinstate H.B. 2492 until the 9th Circuit hears oral argument and makes its decision.
In an order delivered last month, the nation’s highest court rejected part of the RNC’s request. Under the Supreme Court’s order, voters who were registered using the federal registration form will still be able to vote in the presidential election and by mail this November. But the Court granted the RNC’s request to allow Arizona to reject state voter registration applications submitted without documentary proof of citizenship. Because of the Court’s order, individuals who registered to vote using the state’s registration form and did not provide documentary proof of citizenship will not be registered.
“My concern is that changes to the process should not occur this close to an election, it creates confusion for voters,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) said in a statement at the time of the Supreme Court’s ruling. “We respect the Court’s decision and will implement these changes while continuing to protect voter access and make voting a simple process.”