(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Federal-Only voters, who did not need to prove their American citizenship before the 2020 presidential election, cast more than 11,600 votes in Arizona, a state that President Joe Biden allegedly won by 10,457 votes, the Western Journal reported.
The Federal-Only Voter List emerged from a complicated legal history in which Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act and mandated that states accept a federal voter registration form, explained the Arizona Free Enterprise Club.
Subsequent Supreme Court rulings forced Arizona to accept this form, even though it did not meet the state’s voter eligibility standards, including a documented proof of citizenship requirement.
This federal overreach caused Arizona to count 11,600 Federal-Only ballots from voters with uncertain citizenship status.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on March 30 signed House Bill 2492, which will require voters using a Federal-Only ballot to submit proof of citizenship.
“If they do not, they will not be eligible to vote in a presidential election or by mail,” Ducey’s office said in a news release.
The bill will face an uphill battle because the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that federal law precludes Arizona from requiring a Federal Form applicant to submit information beyond that required by the form itself.
“In 2020, more than 11,600 Federal Only Voters in Arizona participated in the general election without providing proof of citizenship,” the governor’s office said.
“In Maricopa County alone, there are currently 13,042 active registered voters who have not provided evidence of citizenship to vote through use of the federal form.”
“In 2018, there were only 1,700 individuals who didn’t have documentary proof of citizenship on file,” Hoffman said. “In 2020, there were almost 12,000.
“So clearly, this is a trend that is increasing,” he said. “This bill ensures that there is maximum flexibility to provide documentary proof of citizenship, but we don’t want foreign interference in our elections.”
Democrat state Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales said the bill will require voters to “jump through…hoops.”
