We certainly want legal elections, with only legal voters, don’t we?
With millions of foreigners in our country, isn’t it reasonable to have laws that require proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote?
In 2004, residents of Arizona approved a ballot initiative requiring people seeking to register to vote to prove U.S. citizenship. The sensible purpose was to prevent voter fraud.
But now, a three-member panel of the extremely liberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the voter-approved law. The court said Arizona has to adhere to a more lenient 1993 federal law that makes registration “widely available” and easier. The federal law requires only that a person who is registering to vote promise that he is a citizen. But he does not have to provide proof. That’s an invitation to fraud.
Voter registration should be a reasonably simple process and should not be hampered by undue barriers.
But there is nothing “undue” about a state’s attempt to prevent noncitizens from casting ballots and destroying the integrity of the voting process. In fact, voter registration has risen in Arizona even with the requirement that people show proof of citizenship when they register.
Arizona intends to appeal the court’s ruling. We hope the state succeeds.