A federal judge in Ohio has temporarily stopped the state from enforcing a new requirement that voters provide documentary proof of US citizenship when registering to vote through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).
The ruling, issued Tuesday by US District Court Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. in Cleveland, suspends the requirement ahead of the October 5 registration deadline for the 2026 midterm elections.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, has rejected the decision and said he would immediately appeal.
The case was brought by the Ohio Alliance of Retired Americans and progressive group Red Wine & Blue, represented by the Democrat-aligned Elias Law Group. The plaintiffs challenged the citizenship documentation requirement, arguing that it conflicts with the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
Oliver agreed that the requirement appeared inconsistent with the federal law, which he said takes precedence.
In his ruling, the judge said the Ohio provision “is more than the signed attestation to U.S. citizenship that Ohio’s other voter registration methods accept.”
He added that the requirement likely violates the NVRA because it demands more than “the minimum amount of information necessary.”
The judge also ruled that Ohio’s existing motor voter process improperly limits voter registration opportunities to people who successfully obtain a driver’s licence. Under federal law, the registration opportunity must also be offered to people who submit an application for a licence.
Following the ruling, Ben Stafford, a partner at Elias Law Group, said eligible Ohio residents would be able to register at BMV offices without providing citizenship documents.
He described the requirement as “exactly the type of government-imposed barrier that the NVRA exists to prevent.”
The injunction bars Ohio from requiring driver’s licence applicants to provide proof of citizenship before they are offered the opportunity to register to vote. It also applies to applicants who are unable to produce the required documents, although it does not cover people who state that they are not US citizens.
LaRose criticised the decision, arguing that it could create difficulties in preventing non-citizens from registering.
He cited a previous case in Franklin County involving a lawful permanent resident who voted in 2018 after allegedly being mistakenly led by a BMV clerk to believe she was eligible. The woman was later found not guilty by reason of entrapment.
“Under this order, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would be required to offer a voter registration form to a person who is applying for a driver’s licence, even if that person can’t verify that they’re a citizen,” LaRose said.
“We strongly disagree with that decision, and I’ve asked our legal team to file an immediate appeal.”
Ohio is one of several states introducing proof-of-citizenship requirements for the first time this year. South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming have also adopted similar measures for the 2026 midterms, while Arizona already has such a requirement for certain state and local elections.
The issue is also being challenged in South Dakota, where the League of Women Voters and a Sioux Falls resident have sued over the state’s new registration rules.
Oliver’s ruling follows similar decisions in other states. In May, a federal judge in New Hampshire ordered the state to make voter registration more accessible by allowing applicants to attest to their citizenship when they cannot provide documentary proof.
In June, another federal judge permanently blocked most of President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking changes to federal election procedures, including a requirement for documentary proof of citizenship during voter registration.
The debate comes amid Trump’s push for Congress to approve legislation that would introduce documentary citizenship requirements for voter registration nationwide.
A 2025 University of Maryland study estimated that about 21.3 million eligible US voters either lack the documents required to prove their citizenship or do not have easy access to them.
