Good News: Arizona’s Voter ID Law Upheld By Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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PHOENIX (AP) — An appeals court upheld a requirement in a 2004 Arizona law that voters show identification before they can cast ballots, saying that there wasn’t evidence that the mandate disproportionately affected Latinos as the challengers had alleged.

A 12-member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling Tuesday that there was evidence Arizona has racially polarized voting and a history of discrimination against Latinos, but concluded no proof was offered to show that the ID requirement gave Latinos fewer opportunities to vote.

The court, however, found that the federal National Voter Registration Act trumps another section of the Arizona law that requires people to prove their citizenship in order to vote.
That federal law allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but it doesn’t require them to show proof as Arizona’s law does.