First AZ voting bill of 2022 reaches governor’s desk

Arizona lawmakers sent Gov. Doug Ducey an election bill on March 28 that “likely presents a preemption issue… as well as a conflict with fairly recent U.S. Supreme Court case law,” according to the Legislature’s own constitutional attorneys. 

House Bill 2492 would require proof of citizenship to vote. Voters who use the federal voter registration form, which does not require verification, but rather a sworn attestation that the voter is a citizen, would not be allowed to vote. AS AMENDED, HB2492 requires people who register with a passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or (probably) a tribal ID to submit additional documents proving residency. It creates new restrictions for federal-only voters (may not vote by mail, or in presidential elections) in defiance of federal law, and it creates new pathways to punish non-citizens who may register to vote. Opponents argue the bill would go farther by requiring everyone who registered to vote before 2004 to prove citizenship or be purged from the voter rolls.

That “fairly recent” U.S. Supreme Court case that the Legislature’s lawyers cited was actually an Arizona case in which the court struck down a similar Arizona policy.

Counties, the American Civil Liberties Union, voting rights groups and others opposed the bill and told lawmakers it was nothing more than a voter purge in continuance of the lie that undocumented immigrants illegally voted and stole the election from then presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The bill now awaits Ducey’s signature or veto.