Attorney General Clark Joins Multistate Coalition in Opposing Citizenship Documentation Requirement for Federal Voter Registration Form

Group co-founded by Stephen Miller advancing previously rejected evidence and arguments

Citizenship documentation requirement would be unlawful, and create substantial and costly burdens on state and local officials

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined acoalition of 19attorneys general in opposing a petition that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) - an independent, bipartisan, four-member body established by Congress - commence rulemaking to impose a documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) requirement on the Federal Mail-In Voter Registration Form (Federal Form). On August 21, 2025, the EAC requested comments on the petition, which was filed by the America First Legal Foundation (AFL). AFL describes itself as a nonprofit law firm and was co-founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in 2021. On March 25, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order No. 14248 (Executive Order), an unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American attempt to impose sweeping voting restrictions, including imposing DPOC on the Federal Form. Attorney General Clark is currently part of a multistate coalition suing the Trump Administration over the Executive Order, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has blocked the Executive Order's mandate for DPOC from taking effect. AFL's petition represents another attempt to impose DPOC on the Federal Form. The deadline to provide public comment on AFL's petition is this coming Monday, October 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT.

In the letter, the attorneys general underscore that:

• AFL's petition raises evidence and arguments substantially similar to those previously considered and rejected by the EAC on multiple occasions. Reversal of those reasoned decisions by the EAC, based on the AFL's petition for rulemaking, would therefore result in an unlawful and arbitrary agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
• The DPOC requirement that AFL is seeking violates federal law. The specific contents of the Federal Form are governed by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a federal law that limits the content of the Federal Form to address only what is "necessary" for state election officials to determine the eligibility of prospective voters. Because the inclusion of DPOC is not "necessary" - attestation of citizenship, backed by criminal and immigration penalties, along with the various tools available to states to cross-check citizenship, adequately serves this purpose - it violates the NVRA.
• The adverse effects of requiring DPOC cut strongly against the petition for rulemaking. Imposition of a DPOC requirement on the Federal Form would create substantial and costly burdens on the state and local officials who administer federal elections. Moreover, a requirement for DPOC would inevitably disenfranchise large swaths of otherwise eligible voters who lack ready access to the type of documentation contemplated in the petition.

In submitting today's comment letter, Attorney General Clarkis joined by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the comment letter can be found on our website.

CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171