Ninth Circuit Green Lights Arizona Illegals to Register to Vote

On Thursday, August 1, 2024, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including two radical left-leaning justices, just overturned a previous three-judge panel’s order mandating proof of citizenship to register to vote in Arizona. Unsurprisingly, Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes made no effort to oppose or rectify the vacated ruling. This new ruling is part of an ongoing challenge by Mi Familia Vota to the 2022 Arizona Free Enterprise Club-initiated House Bill HB 2492, preventing illegal voting in the state. Mi Familia Vota is a left-leaning political action group seeking to give immigrants, including illegal immigrants, a greater voice in politics.

“This opinion from two radical judges on the Ninth Circuit is a travesty of law and to the legal process, overturning a ruling issued just last week by the same court,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “We are hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly intervene and reverse this poorly reasoned decision on appeal.”

In his dissent, Judge Patrick J. Bumatay wrote, “Motions for reconsideration of a motions panel’s order are not meant to be a second bite at the apple. On the contrary, they are highly irregular and strongly disfavored, primarily appropriate if there have been ‘[c]hanges in legal or factual circumstances’ since the motions panel addressed the issue.”

Judge Bumatay continued, “Yet facing identical legal and factual circumstances on an even more expedited basis, the majority now grants the motion and lifts the partial stay… All the public can take away from this episode is that four judges of the Ninth Circuit have voted to partially stay the injunction here, while two other judges voted against it. The two judges prevail – not because of any special insight, but because of the luck of an internal Ninth Circuit draw.”

Arizona Free Enterprise Club indicated it will file an emergency petition at the U.S. Supreme Court appealing the vacated ruling.