June 17, 2013 01:59 PM UTC

Supreme Court Strikes Down Proof of Citizenship Requirement for Voting

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• by: Colorado Pols

From NBC News:

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down an Arizona law that requires people to submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

The vote was 7-2. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said that a 1993 federal law known as the Motor Voter Act takes precedence over the Arizona law because of its requirement that states “accept and use” the federal voter registration form…

…Citizenship is a requirement to vote in any federal election, and the federal registration form requires people to state, under penalty of perjury, that they are American citizens. States can use their own forms, but they must be equivalent to the federal form.

The Arizona law, known as Proposition 200 and adopted by Arizona voters in 2004, went further than the federal form by requiring applicants to provide proof of citizenship. Arizona has used the law to reject 30,000 voter applications, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Challengers to the law argued that it put an extra burden on naturalized citizens. Using a naturalization document as proof would require an applicant to register in person, as opposed to through the mail, because federal law prohibits copying the document.

Proving that you are a Colorado resident and proving U.S. citizenship are, obviously, entirely different matters. Secretary of State Scott Gessler will no doubt be on the rampage with this decision as he continues his quest to convince people that illegal immigrants are voting in Colorado (including county clerks, who don't know what Gessler is talking about). Of course, there is no proof that illegal immigrants voting in Colorado is an actual problem, but Gessler and friends have some new complaints to use in touting their manufactured crisis.

We'd say the Supreme Court's decision is a setback for Gessler's cause, but it's not as though this was ever a fact-based campaign to begin with.