House Democrats Back Fight on Voter Registration Rules

House Democratic leaders are backing a lawsuit that fights efforts in two states to add stricter requirements to federal voter registration forms.

The case, Kris W. Kobach et al. v. United States Election Assistance Commission, centers on a request from Kansas and Arizona to add proof-of-citizenship requirements to the federal voter registration form that matches their state laws.

The House Democrats, led by Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Robert Brady of Pennsylvania, argue in an amicus brief released on Wednesday that providing that proof would limit voting rights.

“Laws are already in place to deter non-citizens from registering to vote and to punish those that violate that law.  Additional burdens are an outrageous and insidious way to disfranchise eligible voters by throwing arbitrary obstacles in their way. It’s nothing more than voter suppression,” Brady said in a statement.

The U.S. Court of Appeals of the Tenth Circuit is expected to hear the case Monday, August 25, 2014.

Expanding the ability for voters to register without tougher proof-of-citizenship requirements has become an election-year focus for Democrats since the Supreme Court struck down key passages in the Voting Rights Act last year.

The amicus brief was signed by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn, Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Marcia Fudge, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rubén Hinojosa and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu.

On March 19, 2014 U.S. District Court Judge Eric Melgren, a George W. Bush appointee, issued an opinion in Kobach v U.S. Election Assistance.

The opinion determines that Kansas and Arizona are free to require that individuals who use the federal voter registration form must attach documents that prove they are citizens.

Specifically, the decision orders the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the federal forms in use in Kansas and Arizona, so that the instructions on the forms used in those states explains to applicants that the paperwork is needed.

So it comes down to, do you verify a voter is eligible to vote before they register or penalize them after they register and it turns out they were not eligible?










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Michael H. Drucker
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