Now that the Supreme Court has affirmed states can require proof of citizenship to register to vote, Republican governors and lawmakers should pass such election integrity measures ahead of Election Day, calling special sessions if their state constitution allows it.
Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 (HAVA), which created the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). That law also empowered the EAC to design a federal voter registration form that could be used in every state as an alternative to each state’s standard form.
Arizona has required proof of citizenship to register since 2004. In 2013, the Supreme Court noted in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council that HAVA allows people to register to vote with a federal form and does not require citizenship proof, and EAC designed a form that does not require proof. So the court held 7-2 that only federal law applies when people use the federal form, which means that people using that form in Arizona do not need to prove they are citizens.
All this should have been done 2 years ago