Republicans Ask SCOTUS to Lift Stay of Arizona Voting Law

Above: Voters wait to cast their ballots at the Biltmore Fashion Park on November 08, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. Image copyright: Kevin Dietsch/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

  • The Republican National Committee (RNC) asked the Supreme Court to lift the stay on Arizona's proof-of-citizenship law that would block an estimated 41K voters from casting a ballot in the presidential election — preferably by Thursday when ballots are scheduled to be printed.

  • Meanwhile, Republican attorneys general from 24 states — under the leadership of Kris Kobach of Kansas — filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court to overturn lower court rulings against the law.


The Spin

Republican narrative

SCOTUS must accept the argument that there are millions of illegal immigrants in the US and each one of them represents an opportunity for fraud in the upcoming election. Arizona has the right — as does every state — to set its own election qualifications, and in this case the state wants to make sure every vote cast is done by a legal US citizen.

Democratic narrative

This is nothing but an attempt by Republicans to throw the election into disarray. They want to discount the votes of thousands of people who had no reason to believe they hadn't registered properly. And even if Republicans don't win this case, they've sowed enough doubt in the integrity of the election so that they can challenge the results in bad faith if they don't agree with them.


Metaculus Prediction


Political split

LEFT

RIGHT

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