First, no identification was required at the polls. Two years ago, voters made IDs necessary. Earlier this month, a court took IDs back off the table.
But in Arizona's final election shift, voters must now definitively bring identification with them to the polls Nov. 7.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday to void the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals injunction, granted earlier this month. The circuit court allowed voters to register without proving citizenship and get a ballot without providing identification.
In the Supreme Court's opinion, the Court of Appeals should have provided the reasoning for granting the injunction and should have deferred to the Arizona District Court.
Under the requirements for the Nov. 7 election, voters must now bring a government-issued identification with name, address and photograph, and out-of-state IDs are acceptable. A voter can also bring two forms of identification, such as utility bills and recent credit statements, with just name and address.
Voters do not have to prove that they are an Arizona resident, which was required for registering under the voter-identification requirements, said Kevin Tyne, the Arizona deputy Secretary of State.
"The difference is, when you are registering to vote, you are proving citizenship and residency," Tyne said. "When you go to the polls, you are proving that you are who you say you are."
Voters who registered between the Court of Appeals injunction on Oct. 5 and the registration deadline on Oct. 9 will still be able to vote, Tyne said.
"The process of asking for proof of citizenship was not required in those few days," Tyne said.
The election would serve as a test for the voter-ID requirement by showing whether eligible voters are prevented from voting or illegal voters are kept away, said Justice John Paul Stevens, in a concurring opinion.
The requirements were part of Proposition 200, passed by voters in 2004, which was aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from getting government benefits.
Devin Mauney, Undergraduate Student Government's government relations director, who is working with the ASU Votes Coalition, said the group is focusing on signing students up for early, mail-in ballots.
The ballots require voters to sign the outside and signature experts compare the ballots to the voter's registration-form signature, Tyne said. As a result, voters don't have to worry about forms of identification.
"Vote-by-mail is still the safest way to do it," Mauney said.
The early-voting deadline is this Friday, and the ballots must be returned Nov. 3, Tyne said.
The group will sign students up to vote by mail and provide information on what identification to bring to the polls outside the Memorial Union this week, he said.
County recorders send out voter-registration cards and sample ballots to the addresses on voter-registration forms, and these can be used to fulfill the identification requirement, Tyne said.
Reach the reporter at james.kindle@asu.edu