The Democratic National Committee and the Arizona Democratic Party said they will file a lawsuit over the state’s new voter ID law, Politico reports.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, last month signed a law that imposes stricter proof of citizenship requirements to register to vote in the state.
"Arizona currently has about 31,000 people registered as federal-only voters. Under the new law, applications for federal forms will be scrutinized by the state for evidence of citizenship,” the Arizona Republic reported. “If it was not provided, the person couldn’t vote in presidential elections or vote by mail, and officials would have to turn the names of noncitizens who attempted to register over to the state Attorney General's Office for possible prosecution."
The state previously lost a 2013 Supreme Court case after they similarly tried to enforce particular citizenship check rules for federal-only voters.
DNC sues:
The DNC filed a lawsuit accusing the state of once again violating the 1993 National Voting Registration Act.
The DNC argued that it is illegal to create a separate system for federal-only voters and creates burdens for people who want to register to vote.
“This undemocratic move is a clear violation of federal law,” DNC chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “That is why the DNC is taking action to ensure that all eligible Arizona voters are given an equal opportunity to participate in our elections, and we stand ready to step in to defend the freedom to vote wherever partisan lawsuits are brought to attack voters’ ability to cast a ballot.”
End-run around Congress:
Critics say the end-run around Congress is part of the GOP’s fringe independent legislature theory.
The growingly popular theory posits that since the Constitution allows state legislatures to pick electoral college electors then only state legislatures, rather than courts or Congress, have authority to dictate election rules.
The state is trying to set up “a showdown on the scope of Congress’s power over presidential elections as distinct from congressional elections,” wrote election law expert Derek Muller. “And it could have fallout for how states administer elections broadly.”
