Palmetto State News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined a coalition of 24 states in requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that would affirm states' rights to establish their own election rules, including the requirement for voters to provide proof of citizenship.

Arizona's law mandating proof of citizenship for voter registration was blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The coalition's friend-of-the-court brief seeks an emergency stay on this ruling from the Supreme Court.

“This would seem like common sense. If only citizens can vote, what’s wrong with requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote?” stated Attorney General Wilson. “This is about safeguarding the integrity of our elections.”

The brief contends that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) does not prevent states from ensuring that only citizens are registered to vote and does not override a state's authority to regulate its presidential elections or manage how elections are conducted.

Many states mandate that voters be United States citizens, but court decisions have gradually diminished state authority over election security.

“Voting by noncitizens, both legal and illegal, is real. The typical rejoinder is to claim that few noncitizens vote. On its own terms, though, the answer at least acknowledges that the problem persists. But it also ignores that even small voting blocs can have outsized effects on electoral outcomes. That effect is most obvious in local elections,” reads the brief.

Attorney General Wilson's participation in the amicus brief is part of an effort led by Kansas and West Virginia, joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma South Dakota Texas Utah and Virginia.

Read the full amicus brief here.