Federal Court to Arizona: Your Anti-Poor, Anti-Immigrant Voter Law Is Not OK

[marmar]

from AlterNet:




Federal Court to AZ: Your Anti-Poor, Anti-Immigrant Voter Law Is Not OK
Posted by Lauren Kelley on @ 9:52 am


Arizona lawmakers have received a blow to their anti-immigrant agenda: a federal appeals court in San Francisco has overturned the part of the state’s voter-identification law that required individuals to prove their U.S. citizenship to vote.

Originally passed in 2004, Arizona’s Proposition 200 required residents to show proof of citizenship and identity at the polls and to receive some state benefits. The national law, by comparison, allows individuals to swear they are citizens, but does not require them to show proof.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the proof of citizenship element of the law went against the National Voter Registration Act. (Arizona voters will still have to show proof of identity at the polls.)

Unfortunately, the ruling came after the voter registration deadline for the upcoming mid-term election. But civil rights activists are still celebrating.

In a statement, one of the attorneys who argued the case said his group was “elated” by the decision. “This will enable the many poor people in Arizona who lack driver’s licenses and birth certificates to register to vote,” said Jon Greenbaum, legal director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/10/27/federal-court-to-az-your-anti-poor-anti-immigrant-voter-law-is-not-ok/

[blondeatlast]

1. The law was designed specifically to disenfranchise and intimidate

minority groups.

This Arizonan is proud to celebrate the ruling! :patriot:

k/r