OSU Navigation Bar

Election Law @ Moritz Home Page

Election Law @ Moritz

Election Law @ Moritz


Litigation

 

Share

Last Updated: June 17, 2013 at 10:30 AM

Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

Case Information

Date Filed: May 9, 2006
State: Arizona
Issue: Voter ID
Current Court: U.S. Supreme Court (Case 12-71)

Issue:

Original Issue: Whether Arizona's voter identification requirements disparately impact minorities in the state and, as such, are unconstitutional.

Current Issue: Whether, under the Elections Clause of the Consitution, the Circuit Court properly applied a heightened preemption test in this case, allowing the NVRA to preempt Arizona's law.

Status:

Order Granting Rehearing En Banc entered 4/27/11.  Order of Preliminary Information Regarding Rehearing En Banc entered 4/28/11. En banc oral argument scheduled for 6/21/2011. Court of Appeals Opinion filed 4/19/12. Temporary U.S. Supreme Court stay 6/14/12. U.S Supreme Court Stay Vacated 6/28/12. Petition for certiorari filed 7/16/12. Petition for certiorari granted 10/15/12. State Petitioners' Brief filed 12/7/12. Oral argument held 3/18/13. Opinion issued 6/17/13.

Case Summary

In this case Plaintiffs, registered voters in Arizona and voters' rights groups, challenged Proposition 200, a law that imposed new restrictions on voter registration and voting. Among these restrictions was the requirement that registrants provide proof of citizenship; the six forms of identification valid to prove citizenship are: (1) a state issued driver's license; (2) a U.S. birth certificate; (3) a U.S. passport; (4) a U.S. naturalization document; (5) another immigration document that proves citizenship; or, (6) a Bureau of Indian Affairs card number. When voting at the polls, voters must provide identification with their name, address and photograph, or two forms of identification with their name and address. Voter mail registration applications, prescribed by the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, are no longer provided.

Plaintiffs claimed that the State of Arizona did not obtain preclearance to stop using the prescribed voter mail registration applications. Plaintiffs also alleged that the voter identification requirements disparately impact Latinos as Latinos are less likely to possess the forms of identification required to register to vote and cast a ballot. Finally, Plaintiffs asserted that the enforcement of these new voter identification requirements diverts funds from programs that would encourage voter turnout. Accordingly, Plaintiffs sought a Preliminary Injunction preventing the enforcement of these voter identification requirements.

The district court denied Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction on September 11, 2006.

Case Analysis and Commentary from Election Law @ Moritz

United States Supreme Court Documents (Second Appeal)

Court of Appeals Documents (Second Appeal)

District Court Documents

Court of Appeals Documents (First Appeal)

United States Supreme Court Documents (First appeal)

Related Links

Commentary

Justin Levitt

Arizona: Voter Registration and the Road Ahead

Justin Levitt

 

June arrived with two election law cases at the Supreme Court. One is still pending: a highly anticipated decision on section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The other, more frequently overlooked, was decided yesterday. And there are some quirks of the opinion that seem to depart from the swiftly congealing conventional wisdom that the states might actually have "won," and now need only run out the clock.

more commentary...

In the News

Michelle Alexander

Johnson: Disenfranchising felons hits minorities hardest

Professor Michelle Alexander was quoted in an Athens Banner-Herald article from her book "The New Jim Crow." The article focuses on the disenfranchisement of felons in states like Virginia, where more than seven percent of the adult population cannot vote due to felony charges. In Virginia, Gov. Robert McDonnell is taking steps to restore the right to vote to nonviolent felons.

Alexander's book calls on the idea that disenfranchising felons affects minorities most. She calls voting-rights restoration processes a “bureaucratic maze” that is “cumbersome, confusing and onerous.”

more EL@M in the news...

Info & Analysis

Supreme Court: NVRA Pre-empts Arizona's Proof of Citizenship Law

In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the NVRA preempts an Arizona law requiring documentation of citizenship to accompany voter registration forms. The case is Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

more info & analysis...

Major Pending Cases

more litigation...