As usual, what’s most interesting (at least to me) is what’s next. Here’s a short list:
- Does the EAC appeal in an effort to revive its authority to control the federal form and the accompanying instructions – and if so, do they prevail?
- Does the appeal make its way back to the Supreme Court and give Justices another opportunity to delineate federal and state election law responsibilities as they did in last summer’s opinion in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council?
- Do more states enact proof-of-citizenship requirments as a result?
- Does the case give more incentive for states to consider online voter registration, which usually includes an eligibility/citizenship check as part of the process?
- What happens to the thousands of voters in who applied using the federal form before the lawsuit was decided? Can the states (and if so how) enforce the proof-of-citizenship law in time for those voters to cast ballots in this year’s election?
This is a big deal and is likely the starting gun for another round of disputes across the nation. Stay tuned!