Federal appeals court blocks voter proof of citizenship requirement in three states News
Federal appeals court blocks voter proof of citizenship requirement in three states

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] on Friday blocked [opinion, PDF] a proof of citizenship requirement imposed upon voters by the states of Alabama, Georgia and Kansas. The court found that the parties challenging the requirement “have demonstrated irreparable harm, a likelihood of success on the merits, that the balance of equities tips in their favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” The court ordered the US Election Assistance Commission (the Commission) [official website], and anyone acting on its behalf, to:

take all actions necessary to restore the status quo ante, pending a determination on the merits, including promptly removing from the state-specific instructions those requirements directing voter registration applicants to submit proof of their United States citizenship, informing Kansas, Alabama, and Georgia that [National Mail Voter Registration] Form [Federal Form] applications filed since January 29, 2016 should be treated as if they did not contain the now-stricken state-specific instructions, and promptly posting on the Commission’s website the modified version of the Federal Form.”

The case was brought by the League of Women Voters of the US (LWV) [advocacy website] against Brian Newby, executive director of the US Election Commission. Newby argued the requirement of a birth certificate or passport proving citizenship prevents voter fraud, while a spokesman for the LWV called the requirements an attempt at “thinly veiled discrimination.”

Voting rights remain a controversial legal issue in the US. On Friday the Supreme Court [official website] rejected [JURIST report] Michigan’s appeal of an injunction [text, PDF] that prevented the state from ban straight-ticket voting. Last week the Supreme Court also denied a motion to reinstate [JURIST report] North Carolina’s recently overturned law that limited early voting to 10 days and required voters to present approved identification cards. Last month the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] denied [JURIST report] an emergency petition for a rehearing regarding the Wisconsin voter ID law. Also last month the Illinois Supreme Court concluded [JURIST report] that placing a redistricting proposal on the ballot this fall would be unconstitutional. Earlier in August an Oklahoma court upheld [JURIST report] a controversial voter identification law allowing the law to be in place while early voting commenced for a primary run-off. In July voter restrictions were overturned not only in North Carolina, but in Kansas and Wisconsin [JURIST reports].

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