(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to revive parts of a Republican-backed Arizona law that could have barred thousands of voters from casting a ballot in the November presidential contest or voting by mail.
The court left in place a hold against part of the law that required voters to document their US citizenship to vote in this year’s presidential election, but allowed the state to enforce other proof-of-citizenship requirements that will make it harder for voters to register for state and local elections. Proof of citizenship will be required for new voters using a state voter registration form.
Arizona is a critically important battleground in this year’s presidential election. President Joe Biden carried the state by just over 10,000 votes in 2020. Former President Donald Trump won it in 2016.
The case is likely to be the first of many election-related disputes the Supreme Court will be asked to tackle on an emergency basis this year. The Republican National Committee, joined by state GOP lawmakers who supported the law, had asked the high court to step into the clash over election rules in the pivotal battleground state in a case that elevated non-citizen voting, an issue Republicans have tried to put front and center in this year’s campaign.
The Supreme Court handed down the decision in a short order without explanation, which is common for emergency appeals.
Three conservatives – Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – said they would have allowed more of the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirements to take effect. Four others – liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett – would have kept the all the contested provisions of the law on hold.
