Kansas, Arizona Will Now Require Proof-Of-Citizenship For Voter Registration: How Will These New Laws Affect Latino Voters?

A federal judge in Kansas upheld proof-of-citizenship laws in Kansas and Arizona in a finding on Wednesday, ruling that the federal commission which oversees elections could not legally keep the two states from requiring new voters to prove they’re citizens in order to register. Republican officials who supported the laws in both states heralded the decision, with Arizona attorney general Tom Horne telling the New York Times it was an “important victory against the Obama administration because it ensures that only U.S. citizens, and not illegals, vote in Arizona elections.”

The Arizona law – Proposition 200, also known as “Protect Arizona Now” -- passed in 2004 and went through a long series of battles in the courts before being struck down by the Supreme Court in June 2013. In that decision, according to the Arizona Republic, the Supreme Court ruled that Arizona could continue to require new voters to prove their citizenship on a state-issued form, but said that the state could not enforce those additional requirements on a federal voter-registration form.

As the Los Angeles Times notes, both Arizona and Kansas – whose law was signed by Gov. Sam Brownback in 2011 – require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport, or other documentation which would prove their citizenship before registering. The federal government’s registration form only requires voters to sign an oath declaring themselves American citizens. Prospective voters would have to file in two separate registration forms to vote in state and federal elections. The latest ruling forces the federal government’s election commission to accommodate the two states by adding state-specific instructions on the federal registration form.

Nina Perales, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which is challenging Prop 200, told the Republic that the group would appeal the ruling, saying, “The U.S. Supreme Court has already spoken on this issue and ruled that state laws like Prop. 200 must yield to federal law.” MALDEF estimates that over 4,000 legitimate applicants have been rejected for failing to provide the citizenship paperwork since the law was implemented.