Here is the opinion. Congrats to Patricia Millett.
Briefs and other materials are here.
Arizona voter ID law
News Coverage of Yesterday’s Argument in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona
Adam Liptak wrote about my favorite exchange of the day:
The question for the justices was whether that state law conflicted with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allows voters to register using a federal form that asks, “Are you a citizen of the United States?” Prospective voters must check a box yes or no, and they must sign the form, swearing that they are citizens under penalty of perjury.
Several members of the court’s conservative wing indicated that the state was free to impose additional requirements to make sure only citizens vote.
Justice Antonin Scalia said the federal form was inadequate. “So it’s under oath,” he said. “Big deal. If you’re willing to violate the voting laws, I suppose you’re willing to violate the perjury laws.”
“Under oath,” he added, “is not proof at all. It’s just a statement.”
Patricia A. Millett, a lawyer for several groups challenging the Arizona law, responded that “statements under oath in criminal cases are proof beyond a reasonable doubt” sufficient to lead to the death penalty.
She added that tens of thousands of people had been rejected from the registration rolls because of the Arizona law, though there was no evidence that they were not citizens.
Briefs and other materials are here.
Arizona Cert Petition in Voter ID/Citizenship Case
Here is the cert petition and the case is now captioned Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona:
Question Presented:
Did the court of appeals err 1) in creating a new, heightened preemption test under Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution (“the Elections Clause”) that is contrary to this Court’s authority and conflicts with other circuit court decisions, and 2) in holding that under that test the National Voter Registration Act preempts an Arizona law that requests persons who are registering to vote to show evidence that they are eligible to vote?
Lower court opinion here.
Turtle Talk 