By Luc Cohen
Sept 24 (Reuters) – A US appeals court has for now reinstated an Ohio law requiring residents to present documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote at the state’s motor vehicle offices, in a boost for allies of President Donald Trump who want tighter voter registration rules.
• The 2-1 decision late on Wednesday by the Cincinnati-based 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals to pause a lower court ruling blocking the law was a win for Ohio’s Republican government ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
• A competitive race for a Senate seat in Ohio is considered important for Democrats’ hopes of regaining control of the Senate.
• Lawyers for the advocacy groups who challenged the law, Red Wine & Blue and the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
• Trump and Republicans in state governments across the country are pushing more restrictions on voter registration, based in part on unsubstantiated claims of widespread illegal voting by non-US citizens.
• Democrats and voting rights advocates counter that voting by non-US citizens is rare, and greater restrictions can make it harder for US citizens to vote.
• In the Ohio case, Cleveland-based US District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. in August granted a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s 2025 law. He said that having voters attest in writing that they are US citizens was sufficient to let Ohio election officials assess their eligibility to vote.
• In temporarily pausing Oliver’s order, a three-judge 6th Circuit panel said advocacy groups that challenged the law likely lacked standing, and that the order came too close to the election.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
