Arizona Legislature Defends Commonsense Wyoming Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                      

Monday, June 30, 2025

Arizona Legislature Defends Commonsense Wyoming Law

Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Senate Republicans are defending a Wyoming law requiring new voter registrants to provide documentary proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in its elections. The Arizona Legislature, Montana, and Kansas are leading a coalition of 22 other states in a brief filed last Friday in the case of Equality State Policy Center v. Gray at the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.

Earlier this year, the Wyoming Legislature passed HB 156 to require proof of citizenship to register to vote in the state. The law afforded a range of means by which new registrants might be able to prove their U.S. citizenship in order to vote, including a valid driver's license, U.S. passport, or birth certificate. The law was immediately challenged by a left-wing special interest group, leading to this action in a federal district court.

"Only legal U.S. citizens should be afforded the opportunity to vote in the United States of America. In the absence of Arizona's Attorney General taking action on this issue, I have been fighting this election integrity battle in court for the past several years as liberal activists have worked to undermine not only Arizona's state law, but laws being enacted in other states to require proof of citizenship," said Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen. "You have to show ID to board a plane, purchase alcohol, and to get into Costco. Providing proof of citizenship to vote should be a no-brainer, and all states should be able to adopt this commonsense measure without obstruction from those wishing to dismantle the sanctity of our democracy. Arizona will continue to defend its own law, and we will come to the aid of any state that works to require proof of citizenship."

In the brief, the states argue that there is no evidence that HB 156 substantially burdens any discrete class of eligible voters, and the law advances vital state interests in preventing unlawful activity while fortifying public confidence in elections.

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov