Arizona counties won’t be forced to do citizenship checks before the election, a judge rules

A judge has rejected a request to require Arizona’s 15 counties to verify the citizenship of some 42,000 voters registered only to vote in federal elections in the presidential battleground state, concluding those who sought the checks made their request too close to the Nov. 5 election and didn’t have legal standing.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of an Arizona voter and the conservative advocacy group Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona sought a court order requiring county recorders to ask federal authorities to verify the citizenship of those voters.

Arizona requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Voters who don’t provide proof of citizenship yet still swear they are U.S. citizens are allowed to vote only for president, the U.S. House or Senate.

The lawsuit alleged officials weren’t complying with a 2022 law requiring the cross-checking of registration information with various government databases.