“Lawsuit Challenges Arizona’s Overly Burdensome Dual Voter Registration System”

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 Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and private co-counsel filed a federal lawsuit challenging Arizona’s overly burdensome and confusing voter registration process that has disenfranchised 26,000 voters in Maricopa County alone. Maricopa is the largest county in Arizona.

The Arizona law requires eligible voters to attach specific documents such as a birth certificate to registration forms if they want to vote in state elections. However, federal law requires Arizona to accept federal registration forms, which permit an applicant to swear, under penalty of perjury, to their citizenship, at least for federal elections.

As a result of this dual voter registration system, Arizona voters submit valid registration forms assuming they are registered for both state and federal elections, but whether they can vote in those elections hinges on the form they were provided. In sum, eligible voters are denied the right to vote simply because of the registration form they happen to fill out.

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