Overview
- America First Legal petitioned the commission to require applicants to submit documentary proof of U.S. citizenship on the federal voter registration form.
- The petition outlines acceptable documents such as a U.S. passport, a REAL ID driver’s license that lists citizenship, a military ID indicating citizenship, or a government photo ID accompanied by proof of citizenship.
- Legal authority is disputed because the federal form already relies on a citizenship attestation under penalty of perjury and two courts have blocked the president’s similar executive order as exceeding his authority.
- Voting-rights groups and election experts say noncitizen voting is illegal and extraordinarily rare and warn the proposed rule would impose unnecessary hurdles that risk disenfranchising eligible voters.
- Republican lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Eli Crane and a coalition of 14 GOP attorneys general back the petition, while 19 Democratic attorneys general filed comments opposing it.