Nearly half the state attorneys general in the U.S. have filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court to back an emergency stay that will allow the State of Arizona to require U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections.
The Republican Party of Arizona said on Thursday that it had filed the emergency application pending appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit "in support of HB 2492, our law requiring proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections."
The Arizona law requires proof of citizenship for ballots even if they are filed by mail.
"The Constitution gives states the power to set voter qualifications, and AZ is leading the charge to ensure ONLY CITIZENS vote in our elections," the Arizona GOP tweeted. "This case has the potential to prevent non-citizen voting once and for all, which should have been the case all along."
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The brief was backed by attorneys general from 24 other states, including Texas, Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia, along with the two states that filed the brief — Kansas and West Virginia.
The Dhillon Law Group filed the brief, stating the Constitution does not support the district court’s ruling, and that it’s legal for a state to require proof of citizenship to vote in elections.
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"The Court should therefore immediately stay the District Court’s injunction to the extent it interferes with Arizona’s constitutional power to choose how it appoints its presidential electors," Harmeet Dhillon, lead attorney for the law group wrote.
The non-partisan group Honest Elections Project said that states "are well within their rights to require people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote by mail." The group stated on its website that "We believe the Supreme Court should allow Arizona’s law to go into effect and allow states to secure their own elections."
An emergency application for stay by the Republican National Committee argues that voter integrity is a "problem" that’s gone unchecked, particularly with so many "illegal aliens" in the country.
"There is every reason to believe this problem of non-citizen voting has gotten worse, as the number of aliens in the United States has undeniably grown. One study suggests there were over 11 million illegal aliens in the country in 2019."
"Each of those aliens represents another possible opening for voter fraud, for each represents a probability — no matter how small — that they will vote illegally. Add to that the other possible sources of noncitizen voting — such as aliens here legally but who cannot vote or who have overstayed their visas — and the magnitude of the problem becomes clear."
