hmmmm........ does this mean if you dont have a government issued photo id and cant register to vote in Arizona that you can get around the problem by registering to vote using the FEDERAL FORM??????

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0323votesuit0323.html

Voter ID coalition will sue Brewer Law's application too rigid for group

Pat Flannery The Arizona Republic Mar. 23, 2006 12:00 AM

A coalition of advocacy groups plans to sue Secretary of State Jan Brewer over the state's new voter identification requirements, claiming her rigid application of the law could prevent some out-of-state Arizonans, such as military members or college students, from registering in their home state.

Brewer dismissed the legal threat Wednesday as little more than politics and vowed not to back down from the challenge.

The latest confrontation is part of the continuing legacy of Proposition 200, a ballot measure approved by Arizona voters in 2004. The measure imposed new proof-of-citizenship requirements on registrants and strict voter ID rules at the polls.

This dispute centers on whether Arizona voters who register using a nationwide federal voter registration form also must produce the proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or valid Arizona driver's license, demanded by state law. Federal law requires registrants using the federal form only to sign the document after checking boxes attesting to their citizenship and age.

It is unclear how many Arizona voters actually register using the federal form. Brewer estimated that fewer than 5 percent do so. In Maricopa County, about 1 percent of voters in the past general election registered using the federal form.

The form is recognized nationwide. Residents who are out of state temporarily sometimes use it to register by mail. Local advocacy groups also hand out the form periodically in voter registration drives.

Deputy Secretary of State Kevin Tyne said the form generally is not used by military members overseas, who are provided registration and voting materials under a Department of Defense program. The department has agreed to follow Arizona's registration requirements for service members voting by mail in this state.

The dispute over how much proof of citizenship is required with the federal form prompted a recent exchange of testy letters between Brewer and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which oversees its use under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The commission told Brewer in a March 6 letter that it was against federal law for Brewer to require additional proof of citizenship from any registrant who properly filled out and signed the federal form.

Jonah Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the intent of the so-called federal motor-voter law was to streamline the registration process and encourage participation.

"Motor-voter was really designed to make it as easy as possible for voters to get on the voter registration lists," he said.

Thomas R. Wilkey, the federal commission's executive director, wrote to Brewer that the state "may not refuse to register individuals to vote in a federal election for failing to provide supplemental proof of citizenship" if they have otherwise properly filled out the federal form.

In a reply last week, Brewer said that she intended to ignore Wilkey's opinion, calling it "incorrect" and noting that more than 1 million Arizona voters imposed the requirements for proof of citizenship.

"After consulting with the Arizona attorney general, I will instruct Arizona's county recorders to continue to administer and enforce the requirement that all voters provide evidence of citizenship when registering to vote," Brewer wrote.

On Wednesday, a coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, the Arizona Advocacy Network, People for the American Way Foundation, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Goldman's group formally notified Brewer that it intends to sue in federal court.

The notice is required under the 1993 voting law and gives Brewer 90 days to relent. Brewer made it clear Wednesday that she would not back down. She noted that the Department of Justice approved the state's new registration requirements last year.

"The law is the law, and states have rights," she said, accusing the litigants of being Proposition 200 foes who "are doing everything they can to thwart the will of the people."

But Linda Brown, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network, said they are trying to prevent voters from being disenfranchised. She said Brewer's requirement would make it hard for out-of-state Arizonans to register because they often do not have access to a birth certificate, valid Arizona driver's license or other form of citizenship proof.

"Our preference is that she (Brewer) follow the spirit and intent of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires her to accept the federal form as is," Brown said.

Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8629.


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