Voting suit challenges Mississippi law on citizenship proof
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A new federal lawsuit challenges a Jim Crow-era law in Mississippi that requires naturalized U.S. citizens to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote.
The lawsuit was filed Monday by the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance.
A Mississippi law enacted in 1924 requires proof of citizenship from naturalized citizens. But people born in the U.S. must only check a box on a voter-registration form to say they are citizens.
The lawsuit says the system is unconstitutional because it treats one group of citizens differently from others.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is among the groups representing the plaintiffs. It says in a news release that Mississippi is the only state that requires naturalized citizens to prove citizenship before registering to vote.
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