On July 1, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and members of Arizona’s state Legislature filed a motion to halt a federal court order. This order aims to prevent certain voters, who registered using a federal voter registration form, from participating in the November elections.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley stated that the emergency motion was filed because the RNC believes that “noncitizen voting undermines our elections” and is “dedicated to stopping it.”
The controversy centers on Arizona’s 2022 election law, HB 2492, which requires proof of citizenship to vote in state elections. Another 2022 law, HB 2243, which mandates reporting the number of voters who did not disclose their citizenship status, is also facing legal challenges.
Voting rights groups filed lawsuits against both measures, and U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton found that parts of the legislation circumvented federal voting laws, although other portions of the two laws were upheld.
Campaign Legal, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit, described the two provisions as “discriminatory.” They argued that one provision “denied the right to vote to Arizonans who did not list their birthplace on the state registration form,” while the other requires “county officials to investigate the citizenship status of naturalized