Court Reinstates Ohio Law Requiring Proof Of Citizenship For Voter Registration

An appeals court on Wednesday reinstated an Ohio law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote at motor vehicles offices, a win for Republicans seeking to tighten voter requirements nationwide.

A panel of three judges on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to block a lower court ruling that had granted a preliminary injunction against the voter ID law in August. The majority argued that the advocacy groups that brought the suit failed to demonstrate that the law would likely prevent people from registering to vote.

Red Wine & Blue and Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans sought to block the Ohio law. They argued that it conflicted with the National Voter Registration Act, which requires “the minimum amount of information necessary” required by the law to complete a voter registration.

Neither organization responded immediately to a request to comment on the ruling.

The court order was a timely win for Republicans as they seek to hold control of Congress in the midterms. Democrats are hoping to flip a coveted Senate seat and numerous House seats in Ohio.

In his dissent, Circuit Judge Kevin G. Ritz argued that the plaintiffs had successfully identified people who were not able to register to vote without providing proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate.

“Those individuals wanted to be afforded the opportunity to register to vote, without providing documentary proof of citizenship, when they applied for a driver's license at a BMV location,” he wrote. “But they were not afforded that opportunity, because of the Ohio law at issue. That is enough.”

Ritz said the two people were still harmed by the law even though they were ultimately able to register and that people could face similar challenges in the future.