PHOENIX, Ariz. (February 29, 2024) – Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona struck down portions of two state laws requiring election officials to investigate the citizenship of Arizona voters and voter registration applicants. Most notably, this ruling prevents election officials from relying on biases and suspicions that a voter is not a U.S. citizen when making voter registration decisions. Citing the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, the court found that county election officials could not initiate an extra citizenship check based on any “reason to believe” a voter was not a U.S. citizen.
The decision finding the “reason to believe” provision unlawful under the Civil Rights Act is a win for a legal claim uniquely brought by civic engagement organizations Poder Latinx, Chicanos Por La Causa and Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Fair Elections Center, the law firm of Arnold & Porter, and the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. This victory is, however, tempered by the court’s ruling upholding the balance of citizenship investigation procedures in the challenged Arizona laws. Plaintiffs across eight consolidated cases had argued that the laws unlawfully empowered officials to strip eligible naturalized citizens of their voting rights based on unreliable database-matching checks.
Arizona’s HB 2492 and HB 2243, which were passed in 2022, require county recorders to use outdated and unreliable government databases to investigate the citizenship status of voter registration applicants and registered voters. Today, the court enjoined one of those provisions that required election officials to conduct extra citizenship checks based on any “reason to believe” a registered voter is not a U.S. citizen. In doing so, the court held that this provision unlawfully singled out naturalized citizens compared to other voters. Naturalized Arizonans are fully eligible to vote and should not face additional barriers to registration and remaining on the voter rolls. The lawsuit, filed in June 2022, argued that Arizona’s citizenship investigation procedures violate federal law, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voter Registration Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments.
“While this decision unfortunately leaves in place many discriminatory provisions, we are extremely heartened to see the court strike down a modern Jim Crow law that targeted naturalized voters in our community,” said Yadira Sánchez, executive director of Poder Latinx. “Notwithstanding this targeted victory, today’s ruling approves many unreliable citizenship investigation practices that will harm our community’s voters, our civic engagement work, and our reputation. The fight will go on.”
“Today marks a significant milestone in our pursuit of justice and equality. Our case has successfully struck down the insidious ‘reason to believe’ provision that unjustly targeted individuals based on mere suspicion of non-citizenship and would have been detrimental to the Latinx community. No one should live in fear of exercising their fundamental rights, particularly the right to vote. As a naturalized U.S. citizen myself, I understand the profound impact that these discriminatory measures can have on individuals like me, who could have faced the threat of being denied voter registration and subjected to unnecessary and invasive citizenship checks,” said Nancy Herrera, Arizona State Director for Poder Latinx.
“As discouraging as it is when activist politicians attack voting rights, especially targeting Latino and other marginalized communities, it is especially encouraging when the courts ultimately support democracy and justice. The Court’s ruling is a mixed bag, but we are encouraged to see one of the worst parts of these citizenship investigation laws struck down today,” said Joseph Garcia, vice president of public policy at Chicanos Por La Causa, and executive director of Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund. “Not for one second do we fool ourselves into thinking this is the end of such battles, and our diverse coalition won’t stop defending liberty and democracy.”
“In an echo of the Jim Crow era, the ‘reason to believe’ law gave election officials license to discriminate against naturalized citizens by subjecting them to baseless citizenship checks and registration cancellation whenever they merely suspected a voter was not a U.S. citizen,” said Jon Sherman, Litigation Director at Fair Elections Center. “The court’s decision should be a wake-up call for Arizona lawmakers, who need to stop targeting naturalized citizens and instead focus on reforms that will increase participation in the democratic process.”
“The court properly struck down some of the most problematic portions of the law,” said John A. Freedman, Arnold & Porter’s Senior Pro Bono Counsel. “We are proud to stand with our clients and co-counsel in achieving this important victory.”
