Kansas and Arizona are continuing to pursue a lawsuit to force the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to alter the national voter registration form and allow states to enforce controversial proof-of-citizenship requirements.
The federal commission had denied the states’ request on January 17, stating that changing the national form to permit the states to require citizenship would “likely hinder eligible citizens from registering to vote in federal elections.”
“This is a significant decision for all eligible voters underscoring the purpose of the National Voter Registration Act to remove barriers such as documentary proof of citizenship that prevent eligible citizens from registering to vote and voting,” Project Vote election counsel, Michelle Kanter Cohen told the Associated Press in January. Project Vote is a defendant-intervenor in the case.
“The states contend the agency’s recent denial of their requests was ‘unlawful, arbitrary, capricious’ in a federal case that has broad implications for voting rights,” the Associated Press reported after Kansas and Arizona challenged the agency’s decision on January 31. Project Vote filed its response to the states’ challenge yesterday, urging the court to let the EAC decision stand. A hearing is scheduled for February 11 in Wichita.
“What we have seen where these laws have been implemented in Arizona and Kansas is that tens of thousands of eligible Americans have been rejected or suspended from the voter rolls, and community voter registration drives have been significantly hampered,” Kanter Cohen said.
Edit: Information on the hearing was updated on February 10, 2014.