Louisiana: Discriminatory Proof of Citizenship Requirement (2016)
In the Spring of 2016, FELN and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit claiming that Louisiana was discriminating against naturalized citizens by requiring them to provide citizenship documents when registering to vote.
Kansas, Georgia & Alabama: Proof of Citizenship for Voter Registration (2016)
In late July 2016, FELN filed an amicus brief as part of a suit over changes to the national mail voter registration form.
Tennessee: Registration Drive Restrictions
Fair Elections Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Tennessee, and Campaign Legal Center filed a federal lawsuit in May, 2019 challenging a new Tennessee law that imposes substantial penalties on groups that foster political participation via voter registration efforts.
Florida: Voter Registration and Assistance
Fair Elections Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit challenging two provisions of a Florida law known as SB 90. One provision makes it less likely that potential voter applicants will submit registrations through community groups. The other violates the Voting Rights Act, which entitles voters who require assistance in voting by reason of disability or inability to read or write to receive help from almost anyone of the voter’s choosing.
Arizona: Voter Registration Restrictions
A complaint on behalf of civic engagement organization Poder Latinx in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, seeking to block a new state law’s arbitrary and vague procedures for investigating the citizenship status of Arizona voters. Poder Latinx works to register and engage Latinx voters in Arizona, and its efforts will be frustrated by a voter registration system that is ever-changing and complicated, and that will baselessly harass naturalized voters.
In February 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona struck down portions of two state laws requiring election officials to investigate the citizenship of Arizona voters and voter registration applicants. Most notably, this ruling prevents election officials from relying on biases and suspicions that a voter is not a U.S. citizen when making voter registration decisions. Citing the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, the court found that county election officials could not initiate an extra citizenship check based on any “reason to believe” a voter was not a U.S. citizen.
The decision finding the “reason to believe” provision unlawful under the Civil Rights Act is a win for a legal claim uniquely brought by civic engagement organizations Poder Latinx, Chicanos Por La Causa and Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund.
