The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a Republican request to partially reinstate an Arizona law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices reinstated part of the 2022 law that rejected such forms if the voter did not provide proof of citizenship.
A full revival of the law would have excluded more than 41,000 people from voting in the November election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden’s administration, which won Arizona by just 10,000 votes in 2020, sued to stop the law.
Thursday’s ruling updated a section of Arizona law that requires residents to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to register as voters in the state.
However, it rejected the law’s provision requiring voters who used a separate federal registration form to submit such documents.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said the ruling was “a huge victory for election integrity. American elections should be decided by American citizens.”
However, the outcome is expected to have little impact on the upcoming general election as it does not affect any Arizonans already registered to vote. According to the Arizona Republic newspaper.
Then-Republican Gov. Doug Ducey enacted the law in March 2022 to balance what he called voting accessibility with election security.
The Biden administration sued to overturn it in July of that year, arguing that it was superseded by a 1993 federal law known as the National Voter Registration Act.
Advocacy groups also filed petitions against the Arizona action.
Last September, Phoenix-based U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled in favor of the challenge, blocking state and national requirements for documentary evidence.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay Judge Bolton’s ruling.
That prompted an emergency Supreme Court filing from the Republican National Committee and Arizona Republicans.
Five conservative justices on Thursday accepted the Republican request. A sixth conservative, Amy Coney Barrett, joined three liberal justices in opposing it.
Arizona, expected to be one of the most contested states in the upcoming election, has been a flashpoint in the battle over voting laws.
It is the only state that requires voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or one of a few documents proving citizenship.
A closer look at the Republican race for the 2020 presidential election found no evidence of irregularities marring Mr Biden’s narrow victory over Mr Trump.
