Blackwell and Klukowski: States Should Pass Proof of Citizenship Laws to Register to Vote

Now that the Supreme Court has affirmed states can require proof of citizenship to register to vote, Republican governors and lawmakers should pass such election integrity measures ahead of Election Day, calling special sessions if their state constitution allows it.

Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 (HAVA), which created the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). That law also empowered the EAC to design a federal voter registration form that could be used in every state as an alternative to each state’s standard form.

Arizona has required proof of citizenship to register since 2004. In 2013, the Supreme Court noted in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council that HAVA allows people to register to vote with a federal form and does not require citizenship proof, and EAC designed a form that does not require proof. So the court held 7-2 that only federal law applies when people use the federal form, which means that people using that form in Arizona do not need to prove they are citizens.

More recently, Arizona passed an election integrity law in 2022. That law extended Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement to also cover presidential elections and vote by mail. The Left sued and the case is on appeal. While that appeal is ongoing, the Supreme Court split on what to do with that statute while the lawsuit continues.

Last month the justices upheld the provision requiring proof of citizenship when registering on a state form. However, they allowed a lower court to block the provisions requiring that same proof for presidential voting and mail-in voting.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch voted to uphold the proof requirement for the entire Arizona law. The liberal justices, plus Amy Coney Barrett, voted to block all of it. John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh took the middle position that carried the day.

But this ruling also suggests next steps for public policy: Five justices agree that states can require proof of citizenship to register to vote. In a year when Virginia removes over 6,000 noncitizens from its voter rolls and then Texas does the same, lawmakers should realize that even a small number of illegal aliens casting votes can change the outcome of a close election.

Now a majority of the Supreme Court has signaled that requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is allowed under federal law. And polls show over 86 percent of Americans agree that noncitizens should never participate in U.S. elections.

All that being the case, Republican governors should call their legislatures into special session if their state constitutions and state laws give governors the option to do so on short notice. They should convene and immediately pass a requirement like Arizona’s.

Our elections will become more secure and voter confidence in our system will be strengthened. And poll numbers like those shown above indicate that voters will applaud these laws. It is both good policy and good politics — which is every politician’s dream tea.

The election is only two months away. But so many states have registration deadlines shorter than that — some even allow people to both register and vote at the same time on Election Day — that these laws could do some real good very quickly, starting in 2024.

For states where the law does not allow calling special sessions so quickly, conservatives should run on this issue, promising to introduce legislation in January. But in states where the laws on the books allow an option like this, there is not a moment to lose.

Ken Blackwell is Chairman of the Center for Election Integrity at America First Policy Institute and served as a U.S. Ambassador and Ohio Secretary of State.

Breitbart News senior legal contributor Ken Klukowski is a lawyer who served in the White House and Justice Department. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kenklukowski.