(C) Common Dreams
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The Effects of Requiring Documentary Proof of Citizenship [1]
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Date: 2025-05
1 | BRENNAN CENER FOR JUSICE
Tis document amasses the available evidence on the effects that documentary proof of citizenship laws have on citizens’ ability to register to vote, including a new Brennan Center analysis of data from Kansas reported here for the first time. o date, only two states have implemented documentary requirements: Arizona and Kansas. (Although Alabama and Georgia passed similar laws, they have never been put into practice.). Teir experiences, buttressed by national surveys and other evidence, show that these requirements can have a significant and negative impact on Americans ’ access to voting. In sum, the evidence shows: • In Kansas, tens of thousands of attempted registrations have already been blocked — between eight and fourteen percent of new registrants — in the first years of the requirement. Almost all of these registrants were eligible citizens. • ens of thousands were prevented from registering in Arizona, as well, including an estimated 17,000 citizens in Maricopa County alone. • Surveys show that millions of American citizens — between five and s even percent — do n ’ t have the most common types of document used to prove citizenship: a passport or birth certificate. • A look at the concrete reality of obtaining citizenship documents shows how hard it can be for some. Low- income citizens may be completely prevented from complying — and therefore voting — by the costs and steps involved.
The Kansas Experience
States with laws demanding documentary proof of citizenship to register offer a kind of natural experiment to test the policy’s real-world effects. Several studies have examined Kansas since it implemented its law in 2013. Te effects have been stark: All the studies agree that tens of thousands of registrations have been blocked at least temporarily, and the portion of new registrants kept off the rolls is in the range of eight to fourteen percent. Tese analyses likely underestimate the effects of a documentary proof of citizenship requirement. Tat’s because the Kansas rule has been weakened by the courts , which have required the state to accept applications without documentary proof of citizenship if submitted through the Department of Motor Vehicles or using the federal registration form. In addition, Kansas has completed some applications submitted without documentary proof of citizenship by checking state databases for evidence of citizenship, such as birth certificate records. Even so, it’s clear that, for tens of thousands of Kansans, the documentary requirement was a major obstacle to voting. Although most of the blocked registrations were eventually made effective, the delay kept voters from participating in at least one election in many instances. Te overwhelming evidence is that almost all of the blocked registration applications were submitted by eligible citizens. In lawsuits challenging the requirement, Kansas has presented evidence of less than 30 noncitizens registering to vote or being blocked by the law. At one point, a Kansas official claimed that 80 noncitizens have attempted to register since 2013, but that number is contested by parties to the suit.
Expert: 14 percent of all new registrants between 2013 and 2015 blocked
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[1] Url:
https://www.scribd.com/document/354176622/The-Effects-of-Requiring-Documentary-Proof-of-Citizenship#fullscreen&from_embed
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