Federal appeals court reinstates Ohio's proof-of-citizenship rule for BMV voter registration

With Ohio's voter registration deadline approaching, a federal appeals court handed state officials a last-minute win, reinstating a law that requires people registering to vote at Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices to produce documentary proof of U.S. citizenship — a birth certificate, passport, certificate of naturalization, or a driver's license or state ID issued after April 2023.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, lifted the preliminary injunction that U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. had issued in August blocking the requirement. The majority held that 'states possess the constitutional authority to set qualifications for voting in federal elections' and that the plaintiff groups had failed to demonstrate likely harm or standing.

Huge legal victory for election integrity in Ohio tonight. Just got word that we effectively upheld our state law that ensures only U.S. citizens can register to vote in Ohio.— Frank LaRose, Ohio Secretary of State

The law at the center of the dispute is House Bill 54, signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in 2025. It applies only to the BMV registration pathway — where a driver's license application can be bundled electronically with a voter registration application — and not to online or paper registration forms, which still accept a signed attestation of citizenship. Ohio is the only state where a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement applies exclusively to voters registering at a motor vehicle agency, according to Ballotpedia.

Ohio is one of 12 states with documentary proof-of-citizenship laws for voter registration. Two states — Ohio and Wyoming — enacted such requirements in 2025; four others, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Utah, followed in 2026, according to Ballotpedia.

The legal challenge was brought by Red Wine & Blue and the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, who argued that the BMV requirement violates the National Voter Registration Act — the federal law that requires states to offer voter registration opportunities when residents apply for or renew driver's licenses. The NVRA limits states to collecting only 'the minimum amount of information necessary' to determine eligibility.

Judge Oliver agreed in August that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on that argument, pointing out the internal inconsistency in Ohio's own rules: the state already treats a signed citizenship attestation as sufficient for online and paper registrations, yet demands physical documents at the BMV. He wrote that Ohio's motor voter system 'run[s] afoul of the NVRA in practice' and that 'signed attestation to U.S. citizenship is the minimum amount of information necessary' to assess voter eligibility.

If an eligible citizen misses the voter registration deadline because he or she was not proactively offered the opportunity to register to vote in conjunction with a driver's license application, then he or she is effectively 'turned away from the polls.'— U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr.

Oliver had denied Ohio's request to pause his own injunction just before the Sixth Circuit acted, finding the state had not shown it was likely to succeed on appeal and rejecting claims that complying with the injunction imposed overwhelming administrative burdens. The appeals court then stepped in and reached the opposite conclusion, finding the state will likely prevail.

The dissenting judge on the three-judge panel argued that affected individuals had been identified — a point the majority used to find the plaintiffs lacked standing. The majority's reinstatement of the law means Ohio BMV offices must again require documentary proof of citizenship from anyone seeking to register to vote at the same time they apply for or renew a driver's license or state ID, at least through the October 5 registration deadline for the November midterms.

Under Ohio's existing rules, residents registering to vote must provide a driver's license number and the last four digits of their Social Security number, and attest under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens. The HB 54 requirement adds a physical document check on top of that attestation — but only at the BMV window.

The underlying lawsuit is not over. The Sixth Circuit's ruling lifts the injunction while the appeal proceeds, meaning the core legal question — whether Ohio's BMV-specific documentation requirement conflicts with the NVRA — remains to be decided on the merits.

Why it matters — The ruling revives a documentation hurdle for a major voter registration pathway just days before Ohio's registration deadline, and sets up a broader legal test of how far states can go in adding citizenship verification steps beyond what federal motor-voter law requires.

Sources differ on Whether the plaintiffs demonstrated likely harm and standing: Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate likely harm or standing (politico.com (majority ruling)) vs Affected individuals had been identified, supporting standing (politico.com (dissent))

Reported by politico.com, usnews.com, thecentersquare.com, news.ballotpedia.org, democracydocket.com, ohiocapitaljournal.com