Prescott Voters at Center of Supreme Court Fight as Trump DOJ Defends Arizona Proof-of-Citizenship Voting Law

The Justice Department Asks SCOTUS to Uphold Arizona’s Voter ID Requirements

The Trump administration has formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate Arizona’s law requiring voters to show documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The petition could determine whether millions of Arizonans, including those in Prescott, must provide citizenship documentation before casting a ballot.

The Department of Justice filed a petition for certiorari on Tuesday, asking the high court to overturn a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from February 2025 that blocked portions of the state’s proof-of-citizenship provisions.

What Is at Stake for Arizona Voters

The contested Arizona statutes require residents to present documentary proof of citizenship when registering via state voter registration forms. The law also requires such proof for individuals submitting mail-in ballots and voting in presidential contests.

Under current federal rules, Arizona residents who do not provide proof of citizenship when registering are classified as federal-only voters. They can only cast ballots in federal elections and cannot vote by mail.

"As to the voter-roll question, the NVRA’s restrictions on removing individuals from the list of eligible voters do not apply to noncitizens who were never eligible to register in the first place," the DOJ petition reads.

The Justice Department argued that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 does not prevent states from requiring documentary proof of citizenship on their own registration forms.

The Legal Battle

The 9th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that Arizona’s provisions violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the NVRA. The appellate court agreed with a lower court finding that the state law conflicted with federal requirements for voter registration.

The DOJ petition asks the Supreme Court to address several key questions:

• Whether the NVRA preempts states from implementing programs to remove noncitizens from voter rolls within 90 days of a federal election
• Whether the NVRA bars states from requiring documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections using the state registration form
• Whether the NVRA prevents states from denying mail-in ballot access to individuals who registered using the federal form without providing proof of citizenship

The Supreme Court previously issued a partial emergency stay of the lower court block ahead of the 2024 election. That stay allowed portions of the law to remain in effect during the most recent presidential cycle.

What Happens Next

At least four justices must agree to hear the case before the full Supreme Court considers it. The court has not yet indicated whether it will grant certiorari.

The DOJ noted that the Republican National Committee also filed a separate petition in the dispute. The administration argued the RNC’s petition is a better vehicle for addressing the contested issues than petitions filed by Arizona legislators and the state.

"But this Court previously denied a stay on this question … and it should not grant certiorari now," the petition reads regarding one question about restricting federal-form registrants to in-person voting. "Further percolation would be beneficial, as this is a novel question that, to our knowledge, no other courts have addressed because no other States have enacted such laws."

The outcome could reshape voting rules across Arizona and set a precedent for other states seeking to implement similar proof-of-citizenship requirements.