A provision of Arizona law allowing individuals who have never resided in the U.S. to register to vote in the state is unconstitutional, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges.
Filed in Maricopa County Superior Court against the state and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the challenge contests the legality of a section of state law stipulating that “[a]ny United States citizen who has never resided in the United States and whose parent is a United States citizen who is registered to vote in this state is eligible to register to vote and may vote in this state using a federal write-in early ballot.”
The lawsuit was brought by the Republican National Committee, the Arizona GOP, and Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda. Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) PAC is sponsoring the litigation on behalf of the latter two parties, according to the group.
Plaintiffs argued that “[r]esidency is not inherited and cannot be established by proxy,” and that an “individual who has never personally made Arizona his home necessarily has not ‘resided in this state’ for any period of time, within the meaning of Article VII, Section 2(A)” of the Arizona Constitution.
“By permitting such ‘never resident’ registrants, who, upon information and belief, are disproportionately non-Republican in their political party affiliations relative to the Arizona electorate as a whole, to cast votes in Arizona elections, A.R.S. § 16-103(E) illegally structures the competitive environment in which the RPAZ and RNC participate, and also unlawfully dilutes the voting power of constitutionally eligible qualified electors, such as Ms. Swoboda,” the lawsuit reads.
According to plaintiffs, the law in question was amended to its current form in 2005 and comports with the Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). As described in the lawsuit, that federal law “prescribes registration and voting procedures in federal elections for military personnel and certain American civilians residing overseas.”
“Arizona’s elections should be decided by Arizonans, not by individuals who have never lived a single day in this country,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. “Democrats want to cheat in our elections by allowing votes from people who have never established legal residency. The RNC is defending the rights of Arizona voters to stop this unconstitutional law in its tracks.”
Plaintiffs asked the Maricopa County Superior Court to declare the cited statute to be in violation of the Arizona Constitution and to issue an injunction barring “the Secretary of State and any officers, agents, agencies, or instrumentalities of the State of Arizona from accepting or effectuating voter registrations and mail ballot requests by individuals who have never resided in the State of Arizona.”
They further requested an additional injunction “requiring the Secretary of State to take all actions necessary or appropriate to ensure that the Arizona-specific instructions accompanying the Federal Post Card Application and the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot reflect that individuals who have never resided in the State of Arizona are not eligible to register to vote or cast ballots in federal or state elections in Arizona.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
