Court reverses its ruling on proof of citizenship for Arizona voter registration

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed itself Thursday, allowing Arizonans again to register to vote in federal races without having to prove citizenship.

It's another dizzying swerve in the legal battle over a 2022 law that aims ultimately to reverse a portion of the National Voter Registration Act and require all Arizona voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The order reopens a path for potential voters who just two weeks ago were barred from using the state voter registration form to sign up to vote unless they could produce proof of U.S. citizenship. It comes with two months left before the Oct. 7 registration deadline for the high-stakes presidential election.

The order means people can again use the state-issued voter registration form even if they don't produce proof of citizenship. Instead, they attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens, and are limited to voting in federal races only.

In the first 10 days after the July 18 ruling that required the documentary proof, the Maricopa County Recorder's Office said it had rejected 200 voter applications.

On Thursday, the Arizona Secretary of State's Office clarified the impact of the ruling.

"Election officials may not reject voter registration applications submitted without DPOC, regardless of which form is used," communications director Aaron Thacker said. DPOC is shorthand for documentary proof of citizenship.

Senate President Warren Petersen vowed to seek an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court "to make sure only American citizens are voting in our elections."

Petersen, along with House Speaker Ben Toma, have defended the proof of citizenship law since it passed in 2022 and was almost immediately challenged. The two Republican legislative leaders are joined in the case by the Republican National Committee.

Two weeks ago, Petersen and Toma were celebrating the ruling that blocked registrations without citizenship proof. But late Thursday, Petersen said the reversal is "another example of why the radical 9th Circuit is the most overturned circuit in the country."

He acknowledged his praise of two weeks ago. "When someone gets it right, they deserve praise. A broken clock is right two times a day."

Attorneys for the civil rights groups that have fought the law did not respond to requests for comment Thursday evening.

In its Thursday order, approved on a 2-1 vote, the court reversed last month's decision by a "motions panel " that blocked certain voter registrations. That panel "misunderstood the extent of confusion and chaos that would be engendered by a late-stage alteration to the status quo of Arizona's election rules," Judges Kim McLane Wardlaw and Ronald Gould wrote.

But Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, arguing the earlier panel got it right. The state legislature cannot be bound by an agreement reached between a former secretary of state and the federal government without running into "serious separation of powers concerns," he wrote.

That agreement is what led to the creation of a two-track registration system, where voters who provide proof of citizenship can vote in all elections, from local to federal, while those without proof are labeled "federal only" and only can cast votes in presidential and congressional contests.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @maryjpitzl .

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Court reverses its ruling on proof of citizenship for Arizona voter registration