A federal judge today ordered the Election Assistance Commission to require state residents to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote. Arizona Public Radio’s Howard Fischer reports.
A 2004 voter-approved initiative requires documentation showing citizenship to register and identification to cast a ballot. The polling place ID remains. And, citizenship proof can be required for those who use a state registration form. The fight is over a federal form which Congress mandated the Election Assistance Commission to design. And, that form requires only that people swear, under penalty of perjury, they are eligible to vote. Judge Eric Melgren said the commission has to alter its form to provide the information Arizona says is necessary. Attorney General Tom Horne cheered the ruling.
“This order compels action immediately. So we’re going to be able to make sure that only citizens vote in the 2014 election,” Horne said.
And, Horne claimed there really is a problem in Arizona.
“There’s been a cover-up by the media of the extent to which voter fraud is a problem in Arizona. In an earlier trial, a federal district judge in Arizona concluded that voter fraud is a significant problem in Arizona,” Horne said.
In fact, the 2009 ruling by Judge Roslyn Silver said only the state “demonstrated instances of voter fraud in Arizona.”
