Voting Today? Bring I.D.

Ignore voter registration ruling, state official says
By C.J. Karamargin
Arizona Daily Star
March 14, 2006

PHOENIX — Secretary of State Jan Brewer will tell county election officials to ignore a ruling that Arizonans do not need to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote with a federal registration form.

In an angry letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Brewer dismissed the ruling as "completely inconsistent, unlawful and without merit."

The commission informed Brewer last week that "Arizona may not refuse to register individuals to vote in a federal election for failing to provide supplemental proof of citizenship," as required under Proposition 200.

Overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2004, Prop. 200 made Arizona the first state in the nation to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

Under its terms, county election officials must reject any voter registration form that is not accompanied by documentation such as a birth certificate, passport, tribal ID card or an Arizona driver's license issued after Oct. 1, 1996, when proof of legal residency for licenses became necessary.

But the commission determined that applying the state requirement to a voter using a federal registration form could result in a loss of voting rights, because "no state may condition acceptance of the federal form upon receipt of additional proof" of citizenship.

Brewer asked the commission to tell voters using the federal form to register in Arizona to provide sufficient proof of citizenship. "To do so otherwise would be incredibly irresponsible and may unnecessarily disenfranchise voters," she wrote.

The federal registration form, which was created and is regulated by the commission, requires only that a voter attest to being a citizen. It is available at www.eac.gov, the commission's Web site.