Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
A federal judge on Thursday blocked Arizona from enforcing a 2022 state law limiting who can vote for president.
In a new ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton said Arizonans who use a federal voter registration form are entitled to cast a ballot in presidential elections. More to the point, the judge voided parts of the statute which says that only those who provide “satisfactory evidence of citizenship” can vote in those elections.
Bolton also said the state cannot enforce another provision which bars anyone who uses this federal form from voting by mail.
But the judge withheld final judgment on whether other changes in state voter registration laws enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature also run afoul of federal laws. That will be determined after a full-blown trial.
In a separate ruling, however, Bolton gave challengers — including the voting rights groups like Mi Familia Vota and the U.S. Department of Justice — the ability to question Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma about their motives for approving the laws.
“The speaker and president must produce communications that they have sent or received relating to the voting laws’ legislative process and withheld on legislative privilege grounds,” the judge wrote. “They may also be deposed about their personal involvement in the voting laws’ legislative process.”
