The amended regulation was an try by state Republicans to crack down on unproven claims of voting by noncitizens.
Printed On 25 Aug 2026
A United States federal court docket has quickly blocked an Ohio regulation that required proof of US citizenship from residents who wished to register to vote whereas they obtained a driver’s license.
In his ruling on Tuesday, US District Decide Solomon Oliver Jr granted a preliminary injunction towards the regulation, saying it doubtless violates the US Nationwide Voter Registration Act (NVRA) as a result of it requires extra data than essential to find out a resident’s eligibility to vote.
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“Election officers don’t want documentary proof of citizenship to evaluate a voter registration applicant’s citizenship as a result of signed attestation of citizenship is sufficient,” Oliver wrote.
The choose additionally pointed to a clause within the act that claims every US state’s driver’s license software “shall function an software for voter registration with respect to election for Federal workplace except the applicant fails to signal the voter registration software”.
Oliver stated that Ohio should supply candidates the chance to register as soon as they’ve submitted their driver’s license software, not after it’s been accredited by the state’s Bureau of Motor Autos (BMV).
“To interpret this part of the NVRA in any other case would enable States to make registering to vote on the BMV extra onerous, and will lead to fewer voter registrations as a result of the chance to use was not proactively supplied to in any other case eligible residents,” Oliver added.
In 1995, Ohio handed a so-called “motor-voter” regulation that allowed residents the chance to register to vote after they utilized for a driver’s license
However that regulation was amended final yr by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature in an try to crack down on unproven claims, pushed partially by US President Donald Trump, that noncitizens had been voting within the state’s election. US regulation prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
The ruling marks a victory for voting rights advocates like Crimson Wine & Blue, which sued Ohio’s secretary of state, Frank LaRose, over claims that the regulation disenfranchised eligible voters and violated the NVRA.
One of many group’s legal professionals, Ben Stafford, praised the ruling, calling it “a win for Ohio voters.”
“With the registration deadline simply weeks away, eligible Ohioans will now have the chance to register to vote on the BMV with out having to supply pointless paperwork that’s not required by federal regulation,” Stafford, an legal professional at Elias Regulation Group, stated in an announcement.
LaRose said his workplace disagrees with the choice and can enchantment.
