Ninth Circuit Upholds Arizona Voter Registration Law in En Banc Ruling

The full Ninth Circuit upheld Arizona’s law cancelling some voter registrations.

On August 7, 2026, the en banc Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a unanimous decision upholding Arizona's Senate Bill 1260, effectively reversing a prior injunction by a lower court that had blocked the law since its 2022 enactment. The ruling affirms the state's authority to enforce voter registration controls designed to prevent duplication.

Senate Bill 1260 mandates that county recorders cancel the voter registration of individuals who are registered in another county. It also establishes felony penalties for election officials who register voters already registered in another state. These provisions aim to strengthen the integrity of voter rolls in Arizona.

The plaintiffs, including the Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino, challenged these provisions. However, the Ninth Circuit panel determined they lacked standing to challenge the cancellation provision because they did not demonstrate an actual injury or interference with their voter-registration and voter-education activities. As Judge Anthony D. Johnstone explained, the organizations "have not clearly shown that the cancellation provision affects or interferes with their voter-registration and voter-education efforts, [thus] they have not established an injury-in-fact."

While the court recognized the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the felony registration provision, it ruled they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of that claim, thereby reinforcing the legitimacy of Arizona’s enforcement measures.

This ruling is significant for election law practitioners and legal professionals involved with voting rights in the western U.S. It sets a precedent supporting state efforts to regulate voter registration processes and avoid duplicate registrations, which could guide similar challenges elsewhere.