Kobach et. al. v United States Election Assistance Commission

Seeking to protect the rights of eligible voters in Arizona and Kansas, Project Vote moved to intervene in the case of Kris W. Kobach et al. v. United States Election Assistance Commission on November 13, 2013. The states of Arizona and Kansas want to change the national voter registration form’s instructions to require that applicants in those states provide proof-of-citizenship documents in order to register to vote.

This lawsuit, which Arizona and Kansas officials filed against the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in August 2013, follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last summer in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. In June 2013, the Court found that Arizona cannot require documentary proof of citizenship to be submitted with the federal voter registration form, because states are required to accept and use the form under the National Voter Registration Act. Project Vote participated in the litigation culminating in the Supreme Court case. On November 13, 2013, Project Vote sought to enter this new case and continues its fight against these harmful requirements.

In March 2014, a U.S. District Judge in Kansas ruled that the EAC had to fulfill the request from Kansas and Arizona. The EAC and a number of voting rights groups—including Project Vote, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, and others—filed to appeal, but the district judge refused to stay his order pending the outcome.

In May 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit overruled the previous judge on the stay. Kansas and Arizona appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to review the case.