Phoenix, AZ – The U.S. Department of Justice and several voting rights organizations appeared before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, to defend voters’ rights against an appeal by the state of Arizona, two Arizona legislators, and the Republican National Committee, who seek to reinstate a voter suppression law already struck down by the district court. But in the meantime, a portion of this law–which never before has been implemented and which threatens the right of eligible Arizonans to vote on the eve of the 2024 general election–has been put into effect because of an eleventh-hour stay of the district court’s decision by the Supreme Court.

The district court, after a weeks-long trial in November 2023, struck down several parts of the new law. As part of its decision, the court ruled that election officials must allow voters who register using the state voter registration form to vote in federal elections without providing documentary proof of citizenship. Voters are already required to attest to their citizenship—under penalty of perjury—to register to vote, and federal law prohibits states from imposing additional paperwork requirements to register for federal elections.

But two Arizona legislators and the Republican National Committee–over the objection of the state of Arizona–sought and obtained from the Supreme Court a stay of the district court’s decision. And, although the Supreme Court correctly denied part of that stay request, five justices voted in favor of a stay that will risk Arizona voters’ right to vote in federal elections, even where that voter completes all relevant registration requirements, including the attestation of citizenship.
The Supreme Court’s stay goes against nearly two decades of precedent. This provision could now prevent tens of thousands of Arizonans from casting their ballots in the upcoming November election and create confusion for voters and election officials alike.

“On the eve of a monumental election, five members of the Supreme Court went against the Court’s own precedent to require enforcement of a law that will cause voter confusion, will undermine the important Get Out The Vote work that non-partisan organizations are doing, and will ultimately keep people from being able to cast their ballots in our upcoming federal election,” said Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director of Free Speech For People.

This decision also goes directly against the precedent of the “Purcell principle,” stemming from a 2006 Supreme Court decision, which warns against altering the status quo election policy so close to an election.

“To be clear: this stay does not stop a new, untested statute going into effect. It requires a new, untested statute to go into effect—one that a federal judge has already ruled to be unlawful. We are disappointed in the ruling, and look forward to working with our partners at Campaign Legal Center and other organizations to defend Arizona voters,” said Hostetler.

The Supreme Court decision follows a district court ruling on summary judgment from September 2023, where a federal judge struck down discriminatory, anti-voter provisions of two Arizona laws, H.B. 2492 and H.B. 2243, passed in 2022 that undermined Arizonans’ freedom to vote and violated federal law. The judge’s order also leaves a few anti-voter provisions intact. Defendants in this case appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit in a case that was heard on September 10, 2024.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC), the San Carlos Apache Tribe Department of Justice, Barton Mendez Soto PLLC, Free Speech for People and Mayer Brown, LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Arizona Students’ Association (ASA), Arizona Democracy Resource Center (ADRC), Arizona Coalition for Change (ACC), the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) and the San Carlos Apache Tribe.