A chance for Kris Kobach to redeem himself-Arizona new proof of citizenship voting rule

[LetMyPeopleVote]

I am a law nerd and I admit that my sense of humor is different. Back in 2018, I was following the best legal soap opera ever. Kris Kobach was one of TFG experts on his voter fraud commission. Kris was the Kansas Secretary of State and had promoted a law that required voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. Kobach had a side gig of trying to sell this proof of citizenship concept to other states. The ACLU sued and the Kansas Attorney General decided to let Kobach try this case. This trial was a wonderful soap opera that gave me a great deal of amusement.

Here is on thread on this case
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210350534
Kobach lost and was held in contempt by the judge and ordered to take some basic civil procedure course

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Now Kobach has the perfect case to redeem himself. Arizona has adopted a proof of citizenship law that is guaranteed to be challenged in court

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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Wednesday re-establishing proof of citizenship voting requirements, setting up a showdown with courts that have said a previous version of the election rule violated federal law.

The bill, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, puts the onus on elections workers and voters to validate citizenship before a registrant can vote in presidential elections or cast a ballot by mail.

“Election integrity means counting every lawful vote and prohibiting any attempt to illegally cast a vote,” Ducey said in a letter Wednesday detailing his support for the bill......

In recent years, other GOP-led states have seen their proof-of-citizenship laws struck down in court. A federal judge tossed a similar Kansas law in 2018.

Arizona needs to hire Kobach to defend the new Arizona law. It has been three years and hopefully kobach has taken the remedial civil procedure courses by now.

This would make a great soap opera

[sheshe2]

1. Recommend!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Arizona GOP governor signs legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote

This law will be challenged and is clearly unconstitutional

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Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday signed legislation that would require all Arizonans to provide proof of citizenship and residency to register to vote, sparking criticism from voting rights advocates who say it will potentially cancel thousands of voter registrations and are exploring legal challenges in response.

State law already requires Arizona residents who want to register to vote in state elections to provide proof of citizenship. But this legislation, passed by the GOP-controlled legislature, extends those requirements to residents who are only voting in federal elections. Currently, individuals who use a federal voter registration form are required to attest under penalty of perjury that they are a citizen, but proof is not required......

Critics also say the bill would do most harm to voters who lack a valid state driver's license or identification card like students, the elderly and tribal communities. They say they are expecting litigation to challenge the legislation.

"We are exploring that option, joining with other groups," Pinny Sheoran, president-elect of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, told CNN.

In 2004, Arizona voters approved proposition 200, which requires individuals to provide proof of citizenship to vote in state elections. But in 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that the state could not impose the citizenship requirement on federal-only voters.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Lawsuit Filed Against Arizona's New Restrictive Proof of Citizenship Law

I am still hoping that Arizona will hire Kobach for this lawsuit

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https://www.democracydocket.com/alerts/lawsuit-filed-against-arizonas-new-restrictive-proof-of-citizenship-law/

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a lawsuit was filed by Mi Familia Vota challenging Arizona’s newly-passed voter suppression law, House Bill 2492. The law, signed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) on Wednesday, creates new proof of citizenship requirements for voters. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona that Arizona must accept federal voter registration forms even if they are unaccompanied by proof of citizenship, striking down a law that was enacted in 2005. Since the ruling, voters in Arizona could register using the federal form and vote in federal elections without providing proof of citizenship. However, as outlined in the complaint, H.B. 2492 changes this so that new voters registering with federal forms must “provide additional documentation if they want to vote in presidential elections or vote early by mail for any office.” Additionally, voters who previously registered to vote before 2005 when there was not a proof of citizenship requirement or between 2005 and the present using a federal form are prohibited from voting in presidential elections or by mail until they present proof of citizenship.

Finally, under this law the Arizona attorney general’s office is tasked with investigating voters with missing citizenship statuses — putting hundreds of thousands of voters at risk for having their registration improperly canceled or losing the ability to vote by mail. The lawsuit argues that H.B. 2492 will severely burden Arizona voters who registered to vote when there was not a proof of citizenship requirement. The plaintiffs highlight that the law could potentially disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters who fall into these categories, especially since the law does not specify if or how voters will be notified that their registration has become invalid.

The lawsuit outlines the Republican-controlled Legislature’s push to limit access to voting, particularly vote by mail, which is an extremely popular method of voting in Arizona. Mi Familia Vota argues that this new law does not serve any justifiable state interest, pointing to the fact that, during “the Legislature’s consideration of the bill, no legislator identified a single instance of voter fraud or impropriety in Arizona related to mail-in early voting ballots that would precipitate the need for the changes at issue.” The lawsuit argues that H.B. 2492 violates the First and 14th Amendments by severely burdening the right to vote and potentially disenfranchising Arizona voters and asks the court to block the law.