The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a partial win to the Republican petitioners in a case involving an Arizona law that requires voters to show proof of citizenship before casting their ballots.

The ruling is considered a significant victory for election integrity ahead of the closely contested 2024 elections in the state. The court was asked to allow enforcement of sections of Arizona law requiring documented proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in the presidential election, including when voting by mail, Fox News reported.

The Republican Party of Arizona noted on Aug. 15 that it had filed the emergency application pending appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit “in support of HB 2492, our law requiring proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections.” Previously, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the law, which triggered the appeal.

“The Constitution gives states the power to set voter qualifications, and Arizona is leading the charge to ensure ONLY CITIZENS vote in our elections,” the Arizona GOP tweeted. “This case has the potential to prevent non-citizen voting once and for all, which should have been the case all along.”

An emergency stay application filed by the Republican National Committee argues that voter integrity is a pressing issue that remains unaddressed, particularly in light of the presence of unauthorized immigrants in the country.

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In the ruling, Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch would have granted the application in full, while Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson would have denied it entirely, Fox noted. As such, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh provided a compromise of sorts with their deciding votes.

“The Supreme Court left in place a lower court’s ruling that barred enforcement of the law that required voters to document their US citizenship to vote in this year’s presidential election, but it allowed the state to enforce a requirement that would-be voters document their citizenship before registering to vote using a state registration form,” CNN noted.

“In a partial win for Republicans, in other words, proof of citizenship will be required for new voters in some circumstances. Voters who cannot document their citizenship status will still be allowed to register using a federal form,” the report added.

In 2013, the Supreme Court restricted states’ ability to require proof of citizenship from individuals who registered using the federal form. The Court determined that under the National Voter Registration Act, states could not deny voters the right to cast ballots in federal elections if the federal form did not include a citizenship proof requirement, CNN added.

Republicans argued that Congress lacked the authority to dictate rules for states’ vote-by-mail systems and voter registration requirements for presidential elections. They contended that states, including Arizona, have the right to mandate proof of citizenship for voting in state and local elections, said the outlet.

The case also involved a 2018 consent decree from a separate lawsuit, which established a fail-safe system for individuals without documentary proof of citizenship. This system was abolished by the 2022 law.

Under the decree, local election officials were required to check the state’s DMV database for citizenship records when processing voter registrations. If records confirming citizenship were found, the individual was fully registered. If not, the individual was not registered for state elections but could still vote in federal elections.

According to statistics from the Arizona Secretary of State, over 40,000 voters have already been excluded from participating in state and local elections due to a lack of documentary proof of citizenship, CNN reported.

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Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who was running a campaign for president as an Independent, withdrew his name from the ballot in Arizona just hours before rumors swirled that he would endorse former President Donald Trump.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes took to X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: “RFK Jr.’s campaign filed official paperwork with our office today withdrawing him from AZ’s 2024 election.”

The withdrawal occurred on the last day of the Democratic National Convention, when Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, gave the keynote address.