US judge blocks Ohio law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote

Published On 25 Aug 202625 Aug 2026.

Key points

• In 1995, Ohio passed a so-called "motor-voter" law that allowed residents the opportunity to register to vote when they applied for a driver's license.
• One of the group's lawyers, Ben Stafford, praised the ruling, calling it "a win for Ohio voters."
• The ruling marks a victory for voting rights advocates like Red Wine & Blue.
• "Election officials do not need documentary proof of citizenship to assess a voter registration applicant's citizenship because signed attestation of citizenship is enough, " Oliver wrote.
• US law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

In practice, a United States federal court has temporarily blocked an Ohio law that required proof of US citizenship from residents who wanted to register to vote while they obtained a driver's license.

In his ruling on Tuesday, US District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr granted a preliminary injunction against the law, saying it probable violates the US National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) as it requires more information than necessary to determine a resident's eligibility to vote.

For context, the judge additionally pointed to a clause in the act that states each US state's driver's license application "shall serve as an application for voter registration with respect to election for Federal office unless the applicant fails to sign the voter registration application".

According to Oliver, ohio must offer applicants the opportunity to register once they've submitted their driver's license application, not after it's been approved by the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).

"To interpret this section of the NVRA otherwise would allow States to make registering to vote at the BMV more onerous, and could result in fewer voter registrations because the opportunity to apply was not proactively offered to otherwise eligible citizens, " Oliver continued.

But that law was amended last year by the state's Republican-controlled legislature in an attempt to crack down on unproven claims, pushed in part by US President Donald Trump, that noncitizens were voting in the state's election. US law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

In practice, the ruling marks a victory for voting rights advocates like Red Wine & Blue. It sued Ohio's secretary of state, Frank LaRose, over claims that the law disenfranchised eligible voters and violated the NVRA.

"With the registration deadline just weeks away, eligible Ohioans will now have the opportunity to register to vote at the BMV without having to produce unnecessary paperwork that is not required by federal law, " Stafford, an attorney at Elias Law Group, remarked in an official note. LaRose remarked his office disagrees with the decision and will appeal.

Taken together, the developments around US judge blocks Ohio law requiring proof of citizenship to register to point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.