Supreme Court Values Federal Power Over Citizenship

The Supreme Court added insult to injury when they reaffirmed what many of us have come to believe and that is the federal government does not value American citizenship. 

Arizona passed a law requiring proof of citizenship when registering voters.  The Supreme Court refused to hear this case.  Here is an excerpt from Roll Call:

The case, Kobach, et al. v. Election Assistance Commission, et al., was about whether Arizona and Kansas could require voters to prove their citizenship when registering to vote with the so-called “federal form.” Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach led the suit against the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which was an appeal of a lower court decision.

Both Kansas and Arizona have state laws that require applicants to prove their citizenship when applying to vote with state forms (for state or federal elections). But the U.S. EAC denied the states’ requests to have their citizenship laws applied when would-be voters use the standardized federal form

 Here is the real reason the federal courts ruled against Arizona:

By not hearing the case, the Supreme Court effectively upheld the decision of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against Arizona and Kansas in November 2014, saying the EAC did not have to modify its form to meet state laws. Under the federal form, would-be voters need only swear under penalty of perjury that they are citizens.

“This is a very big deal,” University of California Irvine Law Professor Rick Hasen wrote on his election law blog Monday. “Kobach had the potential to shift more power away from the federal government in administering elections toward the states,” he added.

Forget the integrity of the vote, or the value of citizenship; it’s all about the federal government’s power over the States.  That seems about right.

Source:

http://www3.atr.rollcall.com/supreme-court-victory-for-voting-rights-advocates/?dcz=