Federal election officials have asked a judge to temporarily suspend his own order that they help Arizona and Kansas enforce state laws requiring voters to prove their U.S. citizenship.  

The court filing comes in response to a federal judge’s decision last month that requires the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to immediately modify a national voter registration form to add special instructions for residents of the two states to prove they’re citizens. More than a dozen voting rights groups, which had previously intervened in the case, made a similar request last week. Project Vote Inc. filed its own motion this week, asking for the same thing.

Kansas and Arizona had asked the federal agency for state-specific modifications, but it refused. Their secretaries of state sued the agency last year. The case has already been appealed by the voting rights groups to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Justice Department, which represents the agency, says it believes the court's order last month is in error and is evaluating whether to appeal.