article: On November 7, 2017, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Arizona (LULAC-Arizona) and the Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The plaintiffs sued the Secretary of State of Arizona (the Secretary) and the Maricopa County Recorder (the County Recorder) under the National Voter Registration Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs, represented by the Campaign Legal Center and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, sought a declaration that the policies of the Secretary violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, the plaintiffs wanted the Secretary to (1) register voters to vote in federal elections regardless of whether they provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC); (2) match voters’ data with driving records to verify citizenship before rejecting voters for state and local elections; (3) refrain from requiring voters to re-submit DPOC when they moved counties, and subsequently to re-register; and (4) notify potential voters that they can register to vote in federal elections without DPOC. The plaintiffs claimed that there was undue burden on their right to vote and equal protection. Specifically, LULAC-Arizona and ASA alleged that Arizona treated voter registration applicants differently depending on whether they used Arizona’s state registration form (the “State Form”) or the national registration form (the “Federal Form”), and that Arizona’s arbitrary dual voter registration policies irrationally disenfranchised thousands of eligible Arizona voters and furthered no legitimate state interests. On December 29, 2017, the Secretary responded to the plaintiffs’ claims and denied that Arizona’s voter registration policies violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments or were otherwise illegal under state or federal law. The Secretary asserted that Federal and State Form applicants were not similarly situated for equal protection purposes. The Secretary asserted that Arizona was constitutionally permitted to require those applying to register to vote using the State Form to personally provide DPOC at the time that they submitted their State Form. The Secretary further asserted that there was no constitutional or statutory requirement that Arizona election officials register applicants for federal elections when they had chosen to use the State Form to register to vote rather than the Federal Form. On January 29, 2018, the Court ordered a settlement conference to take place before Judge Eileen S. Willett. According to the later filed Consent Decree, after reviewing the applicable law, the Secretary and County Recorder concluded that current technology can treat State Form applications the same as Federal Form applications, which would make it easier for Arizona’s citizens to register to vote while also providing important safeguards to prevent unlawful voter registration. On 8 February 2018, the Secretary and County Recorder notified LULAC-Arizona and ASA that they wanted to get to an agreement that would resolve the underlying litigation and also benefit Arizona’s citizens. On June 4, 2018, the parties jointly filed a Consent Decree. They agreed that within thirty days after the entry of the Consent Decree, the Secretary was to revise the Procedures Manual to incorporate the terms of the Consent Decree, to provide guidance to the County Recorders to accept State Form applications submitted without DPOC, to enter all such applications in the Database, to immediately register the applicants for federal elections, and to check all State Form applications submitted without DPOC against the driving database. The Secretary was also to make reasonable efforts to better educate the citizens of Arizona concerning their opportunities to register to vote, and to update their website to explain that: (1) the State Form requires valid DPOC for state elections only; (2) submission of a sufficiently complete State Form with valid DPOC will make the applicant a Full Ballot Voter; (3) submission of a sufficiently complete State Form without DPOC will make the applicant a Federal Only Voter; (4) the Federal Form does not require DPOC; (5) submission of the Federal Form without valid DPOC will make the applicant a Federal Only Voter; and (6) submission of the Federal Form with valid DPOC will make the applicant a Full Ballot Voter. On June 18 2018, Judge David G. Campbell approved the consent decree and retained jurisdiction over the case until December 31, 2020 to ensure the decree’s terms were followed. The plaintiffs filed a motion to compel compliance with consent decree on November 9, 2018 and a second motion to compel compliance on November 12, 2018. Both motions requested expedited rulings. Two days later, on November 14, the court denied the motions. As of April 21, 2020, there has been no substantial action in the docket since then. This case remains open for enforcement purposes until the consent decree expires.
summary: In November 2017, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Arizona (LULAC-Arizona) and the Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The plaintiffs claimed that there was undue burden on the right to vote and a violation of Equal Protection. In June 2018, the parties reached an agreement that made it less difficult for voters to register. The count continues to monitor implementation of the consent decree.