Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/12-71_7l48.pdf
Page Number: 5

2 

ARIZONA v. INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZ. INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

U. S. C. §1973gg et seq., “requires States to provide simpli-
fied  systems  for  registering  to  vote  in  federal  elections.”  
Young  v.  Fordice,  520  U. S.  273,  275  (1997).    The  Act 
requires each State to permit prospective voters to “regis-
ter  to  vote  in  elections  for  Federal  office”  by  any  of  three 
methods:  simultaneously  with  a  driver’s  license  applica-
tion, in person, or by mail.  §1973gg–2(a). 

This  case  concerns  registration  by  mail. 

  Section 
1973gg–2(a)(2)  of  the  Act  requires  a  State  to  establish 
procedures  for  registering  to  vote  in  federal  elections  “by
mail  application  pursuant  to  section  1973gg–4  of  this
title.”  Section  1973gg–4,  in  turn,  requires  States  to  “ac-
cept  and  use”  a  standard  federal  registration  form. 
§1973gg–4(a)(1).  The  Election  Assistance  Commission  is 
invested  with  rulemaking  authority  to  prescribe  the  con-
tents of that Federal Form.  §1973gg–7(a)(1); see §15329.1 
The  EAC  is  explicitly  instructed,  however,  to  develop  the 
Federal  Form  “in  consultation  with  the  chief  election 
officers of the States.”  §1973gg–7(a)(2).  The Federal Form 
thus  contains  a  number  of  state-specific  instructions,
which  tell  residents  of  each  State  what  additional  infor-
mation  they  must  provide  and  where  they  must  submit 
the form.  See National Mail Voter Registration Form, pp. 
3–20,  online  at  http://www.eac.gov  (all  Internet  materials
as visited June 11, 2013, and available in Clerk of Court’s 
case  file);  11  CFR  §9428.3  (2012).    Each  state-specific 
instruction  must  be  approved  by  the  EAC  before  it  is
included on the Federal Form. 

To be eligible to vote under Arizona law, a person must 
be a citizen of the United States.  Ariz. Const., Art. VII, §2;
Ariz.  Rev.  Stat.  Ann.  §16–101(A)  (West  2006).    This  case 
concerns Arizona’s efforts to enforce that qualification.  In 

—————— 

1 The  Help  America  Vote  Act  of  2002  transferred  this  function  from
the Federal Election Commission to the EAC.  See §802, 116 Stat. 1726,
codified at 42 U. S. C. §§15532, 1973gg–7(a).