Today, Honest Election Project (HEP), Center for Election Confidence (CEC), and Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, urging the Court to uphold Arizona’s voter citizenship verification process by overturning the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.
The brief argues the following:
- A state form may ask for more than the federal form. The NVRA created a federal alternative form that every state must accept and use. It also lets each state keep its own form. The Supreme Court already said a state form “may require information the Federal Form does not,” and it used Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship rule as the example.
- The Ninth Circuit stretched two ordinary words too far. “Necessary” means what a state official needs, under state law, to decide if someone is eligible—not “whatever a federal judge thinks a checkbox oath can replace.” “Equivalent” appears in a section about which form a welfare office hands out. It is not a hidden rule that the state form must look almost identical to the federal form.
- The 90-day rule cannot freeze never-eligible people on the rolls. If the NVRA’s removal list is treated as the only allowed reasons to take someone off, then a noncitizen, a minor, or a fake name could never be removed—not just in the last 90 days, but ever. That result is absurd. New Jersey, Illinois, and Oregon have already found large batches of noncitizens added by automatic-registration glitches. An illegal vote cancels a legal one, and there is usually no way to undo that after the ballot is counted.
A link to the brief can be found HERE.
Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project, released the following statement:
“Americans overwhelmingly agree: Noncitizens do not belong on the voter rolls and have no place in a voting booth. Arizona law takes critical steps to prevent noncitizens from voting and to remove them from the rolls if they are erroneously registered. Once again, far-left activists are using the courts to twist federal law into a straitjacket that prevents states from securing their elections. The Honest Elections Project urges the Supreme Court to side with Arizona and preserve the tools states need to ensure that elections are decided only by American citizens.”
Lisa Dixon, Executive Director of Center for Election Confidence, provided the following statement:
“American elections are for American citizens only. Period.
“We should all support Arizona ensuring non-citizens can’t register to vote and removing any non-citizens who end up on the voter lists. It’s the law, and it’s common sense.
“The Center for Election Confidence looks forward to the Supreme Court allowing Arizona and other states to protect the integrity of American elections.”
Justin Riemer, President & CEO of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, issued the following statement:
“Citizenship is a qualification for voting. If states are going to enforce that requirement, they have to be able to verify it. And when officials find noncitizens on the voter rolls, they should be able to act before an election, not after. We are confident the Supreme Court will agree and reverse the Ninth Circuit’s misguided ruling.”