On April 17, an en banc panel of the 9th circuit ruled that federal postcard voter registration forms, authorized in 1993 by Congress, must be accepted as valid by Arizona. Arizona did not dispute that the federal voter registration postcard forms are valid, but insisted that it would not accept the forms without answers to extra questions mandated by the state.
Specifically, the state wanted the federal voter registration forms to include proof that the voter is a citizen. Arizona insisted that the federal forms include the voter’s Arizona state drivers license number or other state-approved ID. Arizona said that if the voter didn’t have such documents, he or she must attach proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or a copy of a U.S. passport. But the Ninth Circuit said that when Congress passed the “Motor Voter” Act in 1993, which authorized the federal voter registration form, it did not intend for states to have the authority to add to the required information. The decision points out that Congress wanted to simplify voter registration, and attaching bulky documents to the postcard form mean that the postcard and its attachments must be enclosed in an envelope.
The decision hinges on the “Elections Clause”, the part of the original U.S. Constitution contained in Article One that says the federal government may, at any time, overrule state election laws on congressional elections. The decision is Gonzalez v State of Arizona, and has been pending in one federal court or another since 2005. The decision also declined to invalidate Arizona’s law that requires voters at the polls to show photo government-ID, but said that conceivably, with more evidence, that law might perhaps someday be held invalid. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
