Arizona counties don't have to do citizenship checks before election, judge rules
Source: ABC News/AP
October 15, 2024, 5:21 PM
PHOENIX -- A judge has rejected a request to require Arizona's 15 counties to verify the citizenship of some 42,000 voters registered only to vote in federal elections in the presidential battleground state, concluding those who sought the checks made their request too close to the Nov. 5 election and didn’t have legal standing.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of an Arizona voter and the conservative advocacy group Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona sought a court order requiring county recorders to ask federal authorities to verify the citizenship of those voters. Arizona requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Voters who don’t provide proof of citizenship yet still swear they are U.S. citizens are allowed to vote only for president, the U.S. House or Senate.
The lawsuit alleged officials weren’t complying with a 2022 law requiring the cross-checking of registration information with various government databases. “They (the plaintiffs) have not made a clearcut showing of harm, nor that the action they request is feasible in the midst of a general election,” U.S. District Judge Krissa Lanham wrote in an order issued Friday.
Lanham, a nominee of President Joe Biden, said she was declining to force county recorders to divert resources away from preparing for the election and toward citizenship checks just weeks before Election Day.
The plaintiffs told the court that they intend to appeal the ruling.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/arizona-counties-wont-forced-citizenship-checks-election-judge-114831464