(UPDATE, 11:25am: Reaction from Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne added.)
The U.S. District Court ruled today in favor of Arizona and Kansas re: motor voter registration forms instructing registrants to provide proof of citizenship.
Judge Eric Melgren did not rule on whether Arizona's (and Kansas') constitutional rights were violated by the refusal of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to add the states' instructions to produce proof of citizenship. Instead, the judge determined that adding the instruction was a "non-discretionary duty" and therefore the EAC could not refuse to add it.
No word yet on whether this decision will be appealed by the EAC, nor whether it will have an effect on previous announcements by Arizona and Kansas that they will provide different, "federal office only" ballots for those individuals who registered with the federal form and did not provide documentary proof of citizenship.
Arizona's Attorney General Tom Horne issued a news release this morning calling the decision "an important victory." "I personally argued this case, before the United States Supreme Court. The language of that Supreme Court case dictated today’s result in the District Court. The victory was really won at the level of the United States Supreme Court. There’s been a media cover-up of the seriousness of voter fraud in Arizona. In an earlier trial, a Federal District Judge in Arizona found that voter fraud is a serious problem in Arizona.”
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The judge in this case has appeared to be openly hostile to the EAC and I believe his decision is wrong. Hopefully the EAC will appeal the decision and get it reversed. AZ AG Horne shouldn't gloat too much.
ReplyDeleteActually, you raise an interesting point, PJ - CAN the EAC appeal?!?! Without Commissioners, the EAC is running on auto-pilot, and they were only able to issue their decision and respond to the lawsuit because they HAD to. Even without Commissioners instructing them to. I don't know if the staff can make a decision on whether or not to appeal.
DeleteI wonder if the EAC can appeal or not as well, as you point out, they don't have any commissioners (thanks to the Congressional GOP). But I wonder, as a body of the administration, if the DOJ can file the appeal on behalf of administration?
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