A divided federal appeals court on Sept. 23 reinstated an Ohio law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote at motor vehicle offices, reversing a lower court order that had temporarily blocked the requirement. The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the groups challenging the law had not shown it was likely to keep people from registering. The ruling blocks an August preliminary injunction issued by a lower court. Red Wine & Blue and the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans argued that the state requirement conflicts with the National Voter Registration Act, which calls for collecting the minimum information needed to complete a voter registration. The groups had sought to prevent Ohio from requiring documentary proof such as a passport or birth certificate at Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices. In dissent, Circuit Judge Kevin G. Ritz said the plaintiffs had identified people who could not register at a BMV without providing those documents. He wrote that their inability to register through that process was enough to establish harm, even though the two people were ultimately able to register by other means. Ritz said others could face similar obstacles. The decision comes as Republicans pursue tighter voting requirements nationally and ahead of Ohio’s 2026 midterm contests. Democrats are seeking to win a closely watched Senate seat and multiple House seats in the state. The ruling concerns registration at motor vehicle offices; the available court decision does not resolve the broader legal dispute over the law.