The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has ordered that Arizona’s identification requirements to cast ballots and register to vote be immediately suspended until the court issues a ruling on the appeal presented by several Arizona civil rights and minority groups.
Opponents of the identification requirements that became law after Prop. 200 passed in 2004 have sought to eliminate the provisions for the 2006 election cycle twice in the past year in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, but without success.
The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Arizona Advocacy Network, failed to have the requirements — government photo identification or two pieces of other ID such as a recent utility bill or a voter registration card — suspended before the 2006 primary election on Sept. 12.
They claim the need for identification unfairly burdens the elderly, minorities and the poor.
Secretary of State Jan Brewer said she had immediately contacted the Attorney General’s Office and requested it seek an immediate reversal of the decision. She hopes the attorney general will file legal paperwork by the morning of Oct. 6.
“I’m very concerned that two judges in San Francisco would overturn the will of a million voters,” she said.
The case number for the appeal is 06-16702, 06-706.