Supreme Court to Decide if Arizona Can Resume Citizenship-Based Voter Roll Reviews

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the Republican National Committee's challenge to an Arizona voter registration program in the case RNC v. Mi Familia Vota. The court will consider the matter during its term that begins in October, with a decision not expected until next year.

To complete any systematic removal of ineligible voters at least 90 days before a federal election. The 90-day quiet period for this year's midterm election begins Aug. 5. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in 2025 that Arizona's program for canceling registrations based on U.S.

Citizenship violates the NVRA. U.S. Circuit Judge Ronald Gould wrote that the periodic cancellation relies on comparisons to databases rather than individualized information or investigation. The dispute follows a 2024 Virginia program that removed suspected noncitizens during the quiet period.

Multiple federal judges nominated by former Presidents Barack Obama or Joe Biden found the program likely violated the NVRA. The Supreme Court allowed the program to continue in a brief, unexplained order. Virginia later reached a settlement, and Governor Abigail Spanberger issued an executive order requiring removal programs to finish 90 days before a federal election.

The Trump administration has sued multiple states to obtain voter-roll data for use with the SAVE database. In a June court filing, Justice Department attorneys argued that the quiet period would not prevent Georgia from investigating and removing ineligible people in an individualized fashion if alerted by the United States.

Maureen Edobor, an assistant law professor at Washington and Lee University, said the outcome may hinge on how courts define technical terms in the statute.