Attorney General Moody and 23-State Coalition Urge Supreme Court to Hear Proof of Citizenship for Voter Registration Case

TALLAHASEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody filed an amicus brief, along with 23 other state attorneys general, urging the Supreme Court of the United States to hear Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota and confirm that states can make rules governing their own elections, including requiring voters to show proof of citizenship.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “In Border Czar Harris’s America, where more than 10 million illegal immigrants have been given a free pass into our country, proof-of-citizenship requirements are a simple, common-sense protection for the integrity of our elections. Florida requires an ID to cast a ballot, and this week, we joined 23 other states to ask SCOTUS to hear a vital case about citizenship for voter registration.”  

The brief argues that the National Voter Registration Act does not prohibit states from ensuring that only citizens register to vote and that it doesn’t preempt a state’s right to regulate its presidential elections or to restrict how states conduct elections.

Many states, including Florida, require that voters be United States citizens. However, courts have chipped away at the states’ authority to secure their own elections. “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,” the brief reads. 

Attorney General Moody is joined on the amicus brief by attorneys general in 23 other states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. 

Read the full amicus brief here. 

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