Judge: Kansas, Arizona Can Require New Voters To Prove Citizenship

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to help Kansas and Arizona enforce laws requiring new voters to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita, Kan., ruled the commission has no legal authority to deny requests from Kansas and Arizona to add state-specific instructions to a national voter registration form. Melgren ordered the commission to immediately revise the national form.

The states and their top election officials — secretaries of state Kris Kobach of Kansas and Ken Bennett of Arizona, both conservative Republicans — sued the agency to force the action.

Both states require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or other documentation to prove their U.S. citizenship to election officials. The federal registration form requires only that prospective voters sign a statement declaring they are citizens.

While most voters in both states register with state forms, their officials said the availability of the federal form created a loophole as they tried to enforce the proof-of-citizenship requirements...

"This is a really big victory, not just for Kansas and Arizona but for all 50 states," Kobach told The Associated Press. "Kansas has paved the way for all states to enact proof-of-citizenship requirements."...