Litigation

Motion For Preliminary Injunction - Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian And Pacific Islander For Equity Coalition Asks Court to Halt Voter Purge Law Before 2022 Elections

August 25, 2022

Preliminary Injunction Filed - Arizona AANHPIs For Equity Coalition Asks Court to Halt Voter Purge Law Before 2022 Elections

In its 2022 session, Arizona’s legislature enacted two voting laws that unlawfully restrict or outright deny the voting rights of Arizona’s voters of color and naturalized voters:  House Bill 2492 (“H.B. 2492”), and House Bill 2243 (“H.B. 2243”).  These laws are the latest entries in a nearly two-decade attempt by Arizona officials to subvert voting rights via documentary proof requirements and punishment schemes.  This effort has both long- and near-term effects.  A number of cases (including this one) already challenge H.B. 2492, which is in many respects Arizona’s do-over of its attempt to require “documentary proof of citizenship” (“DPOC”) that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected nine years ago in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. (“ITCA”), 570 U.S. 1 (2013).  H.B. 2492 is part of the long-term effects—because in tacit recognition of infirmities pointed out to the legislature by its own lawyers, coupled with the upcoming November election, Arizona’s legislature issued a new bill delaying H.B. 2492’s effective date to January 1, 2023.  H.B. 2492 is thus not at issue in this motion.