Feds OK Voter ID Rules in Prop. 200

PHOENIX — Federal voting-rights enforcers yesterday authorized Arizona to implement new voter identification requirements required by an immigration law approved by voters as Proposition 200.

State officials yesterday said they did not know whether the law would apply to March 3 elections scheduled in some local jurisdictions in Arizona. There are no March elections in the Tucson area.

The law, passed at the polls in November, generally requires that people provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, when registering to vote and show specified forms of identification when casting a ballot at a polling place.

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Because of the state’s history of violating minorities’ voting rights, Arizona needs preclearance of all election laws and regulations under the Voting Rights Act.

The notification was contained in a letter sent by the head of the voting rights section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to Attorney General Terry Goddard’s Office.

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