The U.S. Supreme Court says it will consider a Republican lawsuit to enforce voting laws passed in Arizona following the 2020 election.
In 2022, former Gov. Doug Ducey signed two election-related bills into law. One allowed for Arizona’s election officials to monitor and purge voter rolls. The other imposed stricter requirements to provide proof of citizenship in order to cast ballots in state and federal elections.
In 2024, the Supreme Court issued an order barring the federal level provision, but allowed the citizenship proof requirements for state elections to stay in place. The justices are expected to hear arguments on both laws this fall with a ruling likely to come out after the midterm elections.
The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect temporarily before, including Arizona's proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting.
President Donald Trump’s Republican administration joined the appeal after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws.
The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.
The Republican-controlled legislature passed the laws in 2022, part of a wave of similar proposals around the country after Trump falsely claimed widespread voter fraud was responsible for his narrow defeat there to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump reclaimed the state in 2024, helping secure his return to the White House.
The case reached the Supreme Court's emergency docket in 2024. The justices gave the GOP a partial victory, allowing Arizona to require proof of citizenship for registration in state and local elections but not federal races.
Also that year, the high court allowed Virginia to continue a purge of voter rolls shortly before the election.
Citizenship is required to vote across the country, and people must attest they are citizens under penalty of perjury to register. Arizona is among only a handful of states that require additional proof, like a driver's license or passport. Data indicates that voting by noncitizens is rare.
Arizona tried to impose proof requirements for national elections in 2013, but the law was struck down by the Supreme Court. Now, people can register as “federal only” voters without providing proof of citizenship, but Arizona requires additional proof for state and local election participation.
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