Sixth Circuit Temporarily Restores Ohio Citizenship Rule

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on September 23 to pause a lower court injunction against Ohio’s documentary-citizenship requirement for voter registration at motor-vehicle offices, temporarily restoring the state’s ability to enforce the law while an appeal proceeds. The ruling does not resolve whether the requirement is lawful. The appellate majority said the groups challenging the law likely lacked standing and questioned whether the district court had authority to issue forward-looking relief. The majority also viewed the injunction as coming too close to the election, according to one account of the decision. Ohio House Bill 54 requires people registering or updating their registration during a Bureau of Motor Vehicles transaction to provide documentary proof of citizenship, or to have provided it previously to the agency. Examples include a birth certificate, passport or naturalization certificate. The requirement applies to registration through motor-vehicle offices; the ruling does not establish a proof-of-citizenship requirement for every method of registering in Ohio.