by Akemi Tamanaha, Associate Editor
An AAPI advocacy coalition has filed a legal complaint against Arizona officials who are implementing two voting laws the group says will restrict voting for people of color and other marginalized groups.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC (Advancing Justice – AAJC) and global law firm Latham & Watkins filed the complaint on behalf of Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition (AZ AANHPI for Equity Coalition) on August 16. The complaint targets two House bills passed in 2022: HB 2492 and HB 2243.
HB 2492 requires election officials to verify the citizenship of anyone who registered to vote using a federal form that requires you to avow you are a citizen but does not require proof.
HB 2243 will go into effect on September 24. It requires any county recorder to cancel a voter’s registration if they receive information that the voter is not qualified to register. AAJC says the law could create an “anyone can accuse” reporting system.
Arizona Republicans created the laws to root out voter fraud, but AZ AANHPI and AAJC believe the two laws are meant to disenfranchise voters of color.
“We know this because despite multiple attempts to find election fraud, they couldn’t find any in Arizona. Even by virtue of the debate around these bills and the fact that these bills were passed, there is a chilling effect on AAPI voters, especially naturalized voters,” Niyati Shaw, Director of Litigation at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, said in an email to AsAmNews.
Arizona’s governor, Republican Doug Ducey, says long-time Arizona voters won’t be asked to show proof. However, the law comes as the number of eligible immigrant voters in Arizona continues to climb. AAPIs are one of the fastest-growing voting blocs in the state.
According to a press release from AAJC, over 40% of voting-age AAPIs in Arizona are naturalized citizens, meaning they became a citizen after a lengthy naturalization process. A quarter of voting-age AAPIs are limited English proficient. AZ AANHPI and AAJC believe that HB 2243 and HB 2492 would create additional barriers for those citizens to register to vote.
Shah says AZ AANHPI is already diverting its “scant non-profit resources” to mitigate the impact of the restrictive voting laws.
“If voters have questions or concerns about voting, they can call 1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683) for assistance in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali,” Shah said in an email to AsAmNews.
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