FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 3, 2025
President Petersen Vows to Return to SCOTUS After Liberal Ninth Circuit Panel Again Sabotages Arizona's Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote
PHOENIX, ARIZONA— An escalated legal battle to protect the integrity of Arizona elections is continuing after liberal judges at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reengaged in judicial warfare last week to overturn a recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court that allowed a state law strengthening proof of citizenship requirements to take effect.
"It's a new year, but we have the same, old Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, playing familiar games of judicial activism," said Senate President Warren Petersen. "Mere months after being overturned by the Supreme Court in this matter, the Ninth Circuit shockingly ignored the Constitution by blazing an independent trail to reach a very different conclusion. This radicalism undermines confidence in our judicial system, and it has negative consequences for the fabric of our Republic. Legislative Republicans are already working to return to the Supreme Court in defense of Arizona election integrity, and we intend to win."
This lawsuit (Mi Familia Vota v. Warren Petersen) stems from radical Left activists, some of which are from outside of Arizona, opposing two laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature back in 2022, restricting voters who don't provide documentation confirming they are, in fact, legal citizens of the United States.
Last August, a three-judge panel vacated an emergency stay decision issued unanimously by another Ninth Circuit panel. This ruling effectively allowed any individual in Arizona to use a state form to register to vote, without providing proof of citizenship, in order to cast a ballot in federal races like U.S. President and Congress. Shockingly, federal law does not currently require citizenship documentation to vote in federal elections. Three weeks later, after President Petersen filed an emergency stay application at the U.S. Supreme Court, the nation's high court affirmed Arizona’s right to reject state form registrations that do not include proof of citizenship, which was the last legal order in this case until this week's contrarian ruling by the same Ninth Circuit panel that the Supreme Court had previously reversed.
Judge Bumatay dissented from the Ninth Circuit panel's most-recent majority opinion, writing, "This time, ignoring the Supreme Court’s direction on at least the state voter-form issue, it again affirms the injunction wholesale. … Unprecedented yet again. When courts are forced to enter the political realm—as challenges to voting laws require—we must be our most deliberate, careful, and thoughtful. Our robes are not blue or red but black. Sweeping rulings setting aside a State’s laws don’t help. … Most of the voter-verification laws are consistent with the Constitution and federal law, and we should have vacated and substantially narrowed the injunction."
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For more information, contact:
Kim Quintero
Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus
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