AZ: Advocacy group coalition planning lawsuit over voter ID
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4672062&nav=HMO6HMaW
Advocacy group coalition planning lawsuit over voter ID
March 23, 2006, 06:44 AM PST
Secretary of State Jan Brewer is vowing not to back down from a legal challenge from a coalition of advocacy groups over Arizona's new voter identification requirements.
A coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, the Arizona Advocacy Network, People for the American Way Foundation, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Goldman's group formally notified Brewer on Wednesday that it intends to sue in federal court.
The coalition claims Brewer's rigid application of the law could prevent some out-of-state Arizonans, like military members or college students, from registering in their home state.
Proposition 200, a ballot measure approved by Arizona voters in 2004, imposed new proof-of-citizenship requirements on registrants and strict voter ID rules at the polls.
The ongoing dispute centers on whether Arizona voters who register using a nationwide federal voter registration form also must produce the proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or valid Arizona driver's license, demanded by state law.
Federal law requires registrants using the federal form only to sign the document after checking boxes attesting to their citizenship and age.
It is unclear how many Arizona voters actually register using the federal form. Brewer estimated that fewer than 5 percent do so. In Maricopa County, about 1 percent of voters in the past general election registered using the federal form.
The form is recognized nationwide. Residents who are out of state temporarily sometimes use it to register by mail. Local advocacy groups also hand out the form periodically in voter registration drives.
Deputy Secretary of State Kevin Tyne said the form generally is not used by military members overseas, who are provided registration and voting materials under a Department of Defense program. The department has agreed to follow Arizona's registration requirements for service members voting by mail in this state.
The dispute over how much proof of citizenship is required with the federal form prompted a recent exchange of testy letters between Brewer and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which oversees its use under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
The commission told Brewer in a March 6 letter that it was against federal law for Brewer to require additional proof of citizenship from any registrant who properly filled out and signed the federal form.
