By Dareh Gregorian and Julia Jester -
NBC News
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block a new Arizona law that requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
The law, which will take effect in January, was approved by the Legislative Assembly, controlled by the Republican Party (GOP, for its acronym in English), and signed into law by Republican Governor Doug Ducey.
The rule requires poll workers and voters to validate citizenship before registrants can vote in presidential elections or cast ballots by mail.
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Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division stated in a statement that the "onerous requirement of documentary proof of citizenship for certain federal elections constitutes a textbook violation of the National Registration Act." of Voters” with provisions such as “requiring election officials to reject voter registration forms on the basis of errors or omissions that are not material to establishing a voter’s eligibility to cast a ballot.”
The new statute is also similar to an Arizona law that the US Supreme Court struck down in 2013, Clarke added.
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The lawsuit describes how the Arizona lawmakers' attorney warned them that the bill would violate federal law and contradict the previous Supreme Court ruling.
House Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham said trying again "is a fight worth having," according to the court filing.
State Attorney General Mark Brnovich suggested the Justice Department was encouraging undocumented immigrants to vote by filing the lawsuit.
“I will once again be in court defending Arizona against the lawlessness of the Biden Administration,” Brnovich announced Tuesday.
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Since 2004, Arizona has required voters who register on state forms to prove their citizenship with documents such as driver's licenses or photocopies of US passports.
In 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that Arizona cannot require voters who register on federal forms to also submit proof of citizenship.
That means voters who don't provide that documentation will only be able to vote in federal elections in Arizona.
Vote counting at the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 5, 2020. Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images
Ducey has argued that the measure would address the number of registrants who have not provided proof of citizenship to poll workers.
She claimed that more than 11,000 voters in 2020 had not provided proof of citizenship.
President Joe Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes.
Arizona Republicans have repeatedly challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election, despite evidence showing they were accurate and the election was safe.
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The efforts included a discredited review of partisan ballots, ordered by state Senate Republicans and carried out last year by a company called Cyber Ninjas, in Maricopa County, the state's largest by population.
