Now that the Supreme Court has upheld that states can require proof of citizenship for voter registration, Republican governors and legislators should call special sessions, if allowed by their state constitutions, to pass such election integrity measures before Election Day.
In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which established the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which also authorized the EAC to design a federal voter registration form that could be used in all states as an alternative to each state's standard form.
Arizona has required proof of citizenship to register since 2004. In 2013, the Supreme Court State of Arizona v. Inter-Tribal Council Because HAVA allows people to register to vote on a federal form and does not require proof of citizenship, and the EAC designed a form that did not require proof, the Court held 7-2 that only federal law applies when using the federal form, and that people who use the form in Arizona do not need to prove they are citizens.
More recently, Arizona passed the Election Integrity Act of 2022. The law expanded Arizona's proof of citizenship requirement to presidential elections and mail-in voting. The left filed a lawsuit and the case is on appeal. While the appeals continue, the Supreme Court is divided on how to handle the law while the litigation continues.
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld a provision requiring proof of citizenship when registering on state forms, but allowed lower courts to block provisions requiring the same proof for presidential elections and voting by mail.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch voted to uphold the certification requirement for the entire Arizona law. The liberal justices and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted to block it in its entirety. Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh took the middle position that sealed the victory.
But the ruling also signals next steps for public policy: Five justices agreed that states can require proof of citizenship to register to vote. In a year when Virginia purged more than 6,000 foreign nationals from its voter rolls and Texas later did the same, lawmakers should recognize that even a small number of undocumented immigrants voting could change the outcome of a close election.
A majority on the Supreme Court has now suggested that requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is federal law, and polls show that more than 86% of Americans agree that foreigners should not participate in U.S. elections.
For these reasons, Republican governors should call their state legislatures into session and immediately pass Arizona-style requirements to do so if their state constitutions or laws give them the option to do so on short notice.
Our elections will be more secure, and voters will have more confidence in our electoral system. And polling numbers like these show that voters applaud these laws. This is good policy and good politics. This is every politician's dream.
The election is two months away, but many states have shorter registration deadlines, and some even allow people to register and vote on Election Day, so these laws could actually be useful very shortly after 2024.
In states where the law does not allow for a special session to be convened so soon, conservatives should press the issue and promise to introduce legislation in January, but in states where current law allows for this option, there is no time to waste.
Ken Blackwell is president of the Center for Election Integrity at the America First Institute and served as U.S. ambassador and secretary of state for Ohio.
Breitbart News Senior Legal Contributor Ken Krukowski is a former White House and Department of Justice attorney. Follow him on Twitter. Kenkrukowski.
