All Voting Is Local Calls For Gov. Ducey to Veto Illegal Anti-Voter Bill
PHOENIX — All Voting Is Local today urged Gov. Doug Ducey to veto House Bill 2492, which places an undue burden on all currently registered voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship and creates substantial barriers for new voters who do not register with an Arizona driver’s license or state ID.
In their letter, the group warns that the bill violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and the National Voter Registration Act, making it illegal to implement. The letter outlines the legal implications and expensive litigation that would follow if the bill is signed into law, stating: “HB 2492 also contains multiple provisions that, independently and together, target naturalized citizens based on their national origin. Such disparate treatment of newly minted U.S. citizens is anathema to our democratic principles.”
The bill also imposes burdensome restrictions on voter registration drives: “People do not carry documents like copies of residential deeds, leases, and utility bills when they are out and about at locations where voter registration drives operate. Even assuming they do have such documents with them, it is infeasible and prohibitively expensive for community groups to purchase and deploy portable photocopiers to make copies of proof of residence documents out in the field. Because this provision only requires a document proving residence from someone who lacks an active Arizona driver’s license or state ID number, its impact will be felt most severely by people in impoverished, marginalized communities.”
The full letter can be found here.
Background:
The Arizona legislature passed HB 2492, which requires all currently registered voters to provide extensive and unnecessary documentation to prove citizenship, even if registered before the citizenship requirement was imposed in 2005, creating an unnecessary barrier for both currently registered voters and voters who intend to register to vote in the future. The bill requires extensive documentation when registering to vote if voters do not register with an Arizona State ID or driver’s license, including voters using tribal IDs and military IDs.