Palmer Denounces Department of Justice Lawsuit Against Arizona Election Integrity Bill, Promotes Citizen Ballot Protection Act
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Kris Cook (202) 225-4921
Washington, D.C. – Following yesterday’s announcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of a lawsuit against the state of Arizona to prevent it from implementing its recent election reform legislation, Rep. Gary Palmer issued the following statement:
"This action by the Biden Administration's Department of Justice will continue to erode the public’s trust in the election process and will raise public perception that fraudulent votes are being cast,” said Rep. Gary Palmer. “My bill, H.R. 8223, the Citizen Ballot Protection Act, will fix the problem by amending the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to give states the ability to verify the citizenship status of their voters when they register. This is a commonsense solution that allows states to require proof of citizenship for something as sacred as voting.”
Background:
To strengthen voter roll integrity, many states are adding proof of citizenship requirements before someone can register to vote. However, this protection does not extend to voters that register through the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) federal mail voter registration application form. This federal form is used to register to vote in federal elections and the information collected by the form is listed in the NVRA.
Because proof of citizenship is not listed as an option to add to the form, in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, the Supreme Court in 2013 held a state requirement to show proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections violates the NVRA.
Without the proof of citizenship requirement, individuals must only attest under penalty of perjury that he or she is a citizen.
The Citizen Ballot Protection Act (CBPA) would amend the National Voter Registration Act to make clear that a state may impose a proof of citizenship requirement in order to register to vote in a federal election.
The bill respects and upholds the role of states in administering federal elections, gives states the option to add more security to their voter registration process, and helps states that have proof of citizenship requirements to streamline their registration process so both their version of the federal mail voter registration form and the state’s regular voter registration form can have the same review process.
The CBPA currently has 23 cosponsors and was introduced on June 24th.
Text of the legislation can be found HERE