The state of Arizona could be cracking down on voters who can't prove they are U.S. citizens in future elections thanks to a new law planned by state officials.
On Monday, state officials, including State Attorney General Tom Horne and Secretary of State Ken Bennett, both Republicans, announced their intention of implementing a new law that requires Arizona residents to provide proof of citizenship prior to voting in elections.
"Because Arizona law requires a registration applicant to provide evidence of citizenship, registrants who have not provided sufficient evidence of citizenship should not be permitted to vote in state and local elections," Horne wrote in an opinion on how to conduct the 2014 elections, according to the Associated Press.
The law comes months after the Supreme Court rejected an Arizona law in June--passed in 2004--that required voters registering with federal forms to provide election officials with proof of citizenship. According to the L.A. Times, only 5 percent of voters registering to vote use federal forms, while 95 percent use state forms to register.
The main difference between the Arizona and federal forms is that the state forms there require people to submit a passport or birth certificate to prove they are citizens first.
Arizona, which boasts a large Latino population, was won by Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.
The law promises to be legally challenged as civil liberties groups and Democrats denounce it.
"At a minimum, it's a tremendous waste of resources at a time when people already are having to wait too long to vote in this state and it will deter voting for no good reason other than a vindictive attitude," Dan Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, told the AP. "There certainly appears to be possible serious concerns about legality."
DJ Quinlan, executive director for the Arizona Democratic Party, blasted the law in a statement, saying that it "tests the boundaries of absurdity and vindictiveness."
"By recommending a two-track voting system, Horne will be creating a group of second-class voters in Arizona. This will also create another confusing layer of bureaucracy to our voting system and potentially cost Arizona taxpayers millions of dollars," he said.
Furthermore, Quinlan pointed out that those who use a federal form instead of a state form in Arizona already swear under threat of prosecution to be legal U.S. citizens, and "the majority already provide additional proof of citizenship."
Matt Roberts, a spokeman for Bennett's office, said that while a challenge was expected legally, plans to implement the law will proceed as scheduled.
"We'll see how this shakes out, but elections officials don't get to wait and see. We'll be implementing," he said.
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