(Daily Signal) The Republican National Committee this week filed election-related lawsuits in Michigan and North Carolina, coming off a Supreme Court victory last week over election procedures in Arizona.
An RNC initiative called Protect the Vote has filed more than 100 lawsuits across 25 states and recruited more than 150,000 lawyers and volunteer poll watchers across the country.
“We are defending the law and fighting for commonsense security measures that benefit all Americans—like stopping illegal immigrants from voting, mail ballot safeguards, voter ID measures, stopping leftist dark money, and cleaning the voter rolls,” Gineen Bresso, director of election integrity for the Republican National Committee, told The Daily Signal in a written statement. “We are winning in court and have recruited over 150,000 volunteers for the election. We are protecting the vote for all Americans.”
The Democratic National Committee didn’t respond to inquiries for this story.
Previously, however, the DNC issued statements criticizing Republicans’ litigation and asserting that RNC leadership was chosen by former President Donald Trump to “push lies” about the 2020 election. That leadership would be “anti-democracy” and promote conspiracy theories, the DNC said.
In August, the Democratic National Committee filed lawsuits opposing Republican-backed election procedures in Arizona and Georgia.
The Republican National Committee has pending litigation in Georgia, Nevada, and other states where the Nov. 5 presidential election looks close. Here, however, are five states where the GOP has gained major victories.
1. Arizona and Noncitizen Voting
The Republican National Committee won a partial victory Aug. 22 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow Arizona to enforce its law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship during voter registration.
Under the ruling, election officials may reject voter registration forms without proof of citizenship. The high court stayed a federal district court ruling while it awaits a hearing before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The lower court struck down provisions of Arizona’s law that require an election official to reject a voter registration that doesn’t include proof of U.S. citizenship. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, both Democrats, opted not to defend the state law.
So the RNC filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court to allow the state to fully enforce the law, which its ruling did.
“This is a major victory for election integrity that upholds a simple principle: American elections must be decided by American citizens,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a public statement on the high court’s decision.
Fontes, Arizona’s secretary of state, opposed the court ruling.
“My concern is that changes to the process should not occur this close to an election, it creates confusion for voters,” Fontes said in a public statement. “We respect the court’s decision and will implement these changes while continuing to protect voter access and make voting a simple process.”
Earlier this year, Arizona’s election system garnered increased scrutiny when billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter: “Arizona clearly states that no proof of citizenship is required for federal elections.”
That’s technically correct, but no other state requires proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections, either. Arizona, however, requires such proof before someone may vote in state and local elections.
That’s because in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz. Inc. that the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as the motor voter law, determined that every state must accept the same standardized voter registration forms for federal elections.
However, the ruling, written by then-Justice Antonin Scalia, said Arizona’s law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote could apply to state and local elections but not federal ones.
As a result, Arizona uses two different ballots for state and federal elections. A state resident with documented proof of citizenship may vote using both ballots. A voter without proof of citizenship may still vote for president and Congress.
2. Stopping Presumptions in Michigan
The Republican National Committee joined the Michigan Republican Party and Wayne County Republican Committee this week to sue the city of Detroit for not hiring a sufficient number of Republican election inspectors.
