A divided Supreme Court has granted the Republican National Committee and Arizona’s Republican legislative leaders’ request to reinstate a state law mandating proof of citizenship for voter registration using state forms, a move affecting the 2024 elections. However, the court did not reinstate portions of the law barring those who register via a federal form from voting for president or by mail without proof of citizenship. The decision, which saw a 5-4 split, prompted varied responses among the justices but only came with a brief, unsigned order. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch expressed a willingness to fully reinstate the law, while Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson opposed the request entirely (order).
The law, H.B. 2492, was enacted in 2022 and requires county officials to verify the citizenship of applicants using the federal form. If verification isn’t possible through accessible databases, applicants must provide documents like a passport or birth certificate to vote in presidential elections or by mail. Opponents of H.B. 2492, including the federal government and voting-rights groups, argue that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) supersedes Arizona’s law by requiring states to accept a federal form that necessitates only an affidavit of citizenship under penalty of perjury (precedent).
Previously, a federal district court in Arizona ruled in favor of the United States and private plaintiffs, barring the state’s enforcement of H.B. 2492. On July 18, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit temporarily blocked portions of this order, but another panel reinstated the district court’s order on August 1, prompting the RNC and legislative leaders to seek intervention from the Supreme Court on August 8 (SCOTUSblog).