Appeals Court Reinstates Ohio’s Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship When Registering to Vote

A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated Ohio’s law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a lower court’s injunction.

In August, a Clinton-appointed judge blocked Ohio from requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship from residents registering to vote through the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles, handing a major victory to Democrat-aligned election attorneys just weeks before the 2026 midterm voter-registration deadline.

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. issued a preliminary injunction against the citizenship-verification provision in Ohio House Bill 54.

House Bill 54 amended Ohio law to require applicants registering or updating their voter registration during a BMV transaction to provide proof of citizenship, or to have previously supplied that documentation to the agency.

The requirement could be satisfied with records such as a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization certificate. Ohio’s official statute took effect in June 2025.

Judge Oliver ruled that Ohio’s BMV process likely violated the National Voter Registration Act on two grounds.

First, the judge concluded that the state could not condition the offer to register on whether an applicant successfully obtained a driver’s license.

Oliver wrote that Ohio had made voter registration dependent upon the success of the license application and declared that the “sequencing is not what Congress intended.”

Second, Oliver ruled that documentary proof of citizenship exceeded the information Ohio needed to determine eligibility. According to the judge, a signed statement claiming U.S. citizenship is sufficient.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to block Judge Oliver’s injunction.

“A panel of three judges on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to block a lower court ruling that had granted a preliminary injunction against the voter ID law in August. The majority argued that the advocacy groups that brought the suit failed to demonstrate that the law would likely prevent people from registering to vote,” Politico reported.