Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005

For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Kim Alton
(202) 662-8600
October 6, 2006

Federal Court Halts Arizona's Harmful Voter ID Law
Proposition 200 Will Not Apply to November Elections

WASHINGTON - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order today that will enjoin the State of Arizona from implementing Proposition 200's voter ID requirements in connection with next month's November 7th elections.

“Proposition 200 is both unnecessary and discriminatory,” said Barbara R. Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee. “Today the 9th Circuit honored our country's democratic constitutional promise by removing an otherwise insurmountable roadblock to tens of thousands of eligible Arizona citizens,” added Arnwine.

This legal victory will help ensure the fundamental right to vote for tens of thousands of Arizonans who otherwise would have faced unnecessary barriers to full participation in federal and state elections.

Passed in 2004, Proposition 200 dramatically altered Arizona election law by (1) requiring citizens to present documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, and (2) imposing a restrictive identification requirement as a condition of casting a ballot at the polls. For those voters who cannot meet its strict and unnecessary requirements, Proposition 200 imposes a 21st century poll tax by requiring that voters purchase acceptable forms of identification. By creating a price tag to vote, Proposition 200's unconstitutional burden disproportionately disenfranchised Arizona's minority voters, Native Americans, the elderly, the disabled and students.

Proposition 200's proof of citizenship requirement has already blocked nearly 21,000 Arizonans from registering to vote. The Court's order enjoins Proposition 200's registration proof of citizen requirements so that eligible voters can register before the October 9 registration deadline, and enjoins Proposition 200's polling place identification requirements so that citizens can vote in this year's critical mid-term election.

The plaintiffs who filed the emergency motion with the 9th Circuit are the Intertribal Council of Arizona, Inc., the League of Women Voters of Arizona, the Hopi Tribe, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Arizona Advocacy Network, the People For the American Way Foundation, and Rep. Steve M. Gallardo. They are represented by the law firms of Osborn Maledon and Steptoe & Johnson, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the ACLU of Arizona, AARP Foundation Litigation, People For the American Way Foundation, and Sparks, Tehan & Ryley.


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The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination.



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