The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Arizona GOP have filed a lawsuit seeking to block an Arizona law that allows military and other temporarily absent overseas voters to cast ballots without providing proof of citizenship directly to the state.
“Arizona’s elections should be decided by Arizonans, not by individuals who have never lived a single day in this country,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement Monday. “Democrats want to cheat in our elections by allowing votes from people who have never established legal residency.”
“The RNC is defending the rights of Arizona voters to stop this unconstitutional law in its tracks,” he added.
The Arizona law, adopted in 2023, allows some overseas U.S. citizens who have not lived in the Grand Canyon state — but have a parent who is a registered Arizona voter — to cast ballots through a federal write-in system created under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986.
UOCAVA applies only to presidential and other federal elections, but some states have extended provisions from it to apply to state and local elections. Arizona’s law allows county registrars to accept the federal form in lieu of a separate state affidavit.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D)’s office didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the GOP’s lawsuit.
The Arizona election law was reviewed by the Supreme Court in August, when justices sided with the RNC and Arizona GOP leaders’ argument that proof of citizenship should be required for state voter registration forms. But the high court also upheld the portion of the law that allows overseas voters to cast ballots by mail without confirming citizenship to the state if they meet other federal registration requirements.
Arizona became a hotbed for Republicans’ election law challenges after President Trump lost the state to former President Biden in the 2020 cycle. Trump won support from the majority of Arizona voters four years earlier and won the state again last fall.
Multiple Republicans have faced defamation claims, obstruction charges and conspiracy allegations over unfounded objections to Arizona election results in recent years.