Group's lawsuit challenges Arizona's voter ID requirements
May 9, 2006, 08:11 PM EDT

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4882358&nav=HMO6HMaW

Hispanic groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block and declare unconstitutional voter identification requirements imposed under the 2004 voter-approved state law known as Proposition 200.


Voter registration drives are being hindered by the law's mandate for registrants to submit documents proving their citizenship, while the requirement to show specified types of identification when voting at polling places could keep citizens from exercising their voting rights, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Chicanos Por La Causa, Friendly House, Valle del Sol, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and the Arizona Hispanic Community Forum.

"The reality is that Proposition 200 erects more barriers to voting and discourages citizens from registering to vote," said Cynthia Valenzuela, MALDEF director of litigation.

Proposition 200 was placed on the ballot through an initiative campaign whose proponents argued that its voter ID requirements would prevent and combat voter fraud by non-citizens. It was aimed chiefly at illegal immigrants.

Other provisions of the same law sought to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving certain public services. The reach of those provisions also has been the subject of lawsuits.

The groups behind Tuesday's lawsuit are requesting a court order requiring the state to accept voter registrations that use a form mandated by Congress in a 1993 federal law. The groups say the state's refusal to accept registrations using that federal form without the state-required identification has thwarted voter registration drives.

The lawsuit also contends that the Arizona law's voter identification requirement violates the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

Hispanics are less likely to have the identification required to register and cast ballots, the lawsuit said. "As a result, significant numbers of Latinos attempting to register and turn out to vote are denied the right to vote."

Community voter registration drives are hindered by the need to have a photocopier or computer scanner and printer to make copies of citizenship documents of would-be voters without a driver's license or state identification card, the lawsuit said.

The state will fight the lawsuit and defend the voter-approved law, said Secretary of State Jan Brewer, the state's chief elections officer.

Brewer is the lead individual defendant in the lawsuit along with recorders and election directors from Arizona's 15 counties.

Brewer also said she disagrees with the federal Election Assistance Commission's contention that Arizona cannot require additional proof of citizenship from a registrant using the federal form.