Judge blocks Ohio from requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Ohio from requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote at motor vehicles offices, a blow to Republicans who have pushed to tighten voter identification requirements ahead of the midterms.

In a 54-page opinion , U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. said that Ohio's process for registering voters at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles requires residents to produce more documentation than what is required by the National Voter Registration Act, a federal law passed in 1993 that requires states under most circumstances to allow people to register to vote when applying or renewing a driver's license.

A requirement beyond a signed attestation to U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury exceeds "the minimum amount of information necessary" required by the law to complete a voter registration, Oliver — a Clinton appointee — wrote.

Oliver's ruling also said the state's law offering voter registration to people when they are successfully approved for a license — as opposed to when they apply — also runs afoul of the NVRA, which is sometimes known as the "motor voter" law.

"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 said in his opinion.

In 2025, Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine signed an amended state motor voter statute that required residents to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote when applying for a driver's license at a motor vehicles office.

Two liberal advocacy organizations — Red Wine & Blue and Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans — filed a motion to block the statute's proof of citizenship requirement. The plaintiffs argued it "imposes an unnecessary obstacle to register to vote at Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices in violation of the National Voter Registration Act."

The court order deals a timely win to Democrats who are vying to flip control of the battleground state where a coveted Senate seat, battleground House seats and a governorship that has been dominated by Republicans for the past 15 years are all up for grabs.

President Donald Trump and his allies have led a campaign to stiffen voter identification requirements and restrict mail-in voting nationwide ahead of the November midterms.

Trump's signature voting legislation, which he has called the SAVE America Act , would require a citizenship check. But it has stalled in the Senate, without enough support to pass before summer recess.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said Tuesday that he "strongly disagrees" with the court order and will file an immediate appeal.

"I will vigorously defend our legal authority to safeguard our voter rolls and protect the integrity of Ohio's elections," he said, adding that "Ohio has a constitutional requirement to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections."