Nearly 100,000 Voters Registered Without Proof of Citizenship as ‘Flaw’ Could Impact Upcoming Elections

Almost 100,000 Arizona voters are in election limbo because of a flaw that has state officials at odds over the proper remedy.

Arizona passed a law in 2004 that requires documented proof of citizenship to register as “full-ballot voters.” Driver’s licenses are considered valid proof of citizenship. But there’s a problem, because prior to 1996, motor vehicle records did not have proof of citizenship on file.

About 97,000 people are impacted, as officials offer competing solutions.

In one corner, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said he thinks these are legal voters who should go ahead and vote as they always have, according to KPHO-TV.

But Stepehn Richer, the Maricopa County Recorder, disagrees, according to KSAZ-TV.

The difference of opinion focuses on the contests in which those 97,000 voters can cast a ballot. Fontes thinks it’s OK to let these voters cast ballots in state and local elections as well as federal ones. Richer thinks these voters should only cast ballots in federal elections.

Richer wrote on X that he is filing a lawsuit against Fontes’ office to see who is right as he outlined the problem

“Unfortunately, the way the system was designed allowed for one group of voters through the cracks. If a driver received a license prior to 1996, he did not have a documented proof of citizenship on file,” Richer wrote.

“But then, if he got a duplicate license (e.g. in the case of losing a license), the issuance date would be updated in the statewide voter registration’s interface with MVD. Then, if that person went to register, when the counties went to confirm if the person has documented proof of citizenship, the interface between the statewide voter registration system and MVD would yield a date after 1996 and therefore say that the voter had documented proof of citizenship on file with the MVD,” Richer wrote.

“This flaw has existed since 2004. In every county. Across the state,” he wrote.

Richer said he is not suspecting or alleging fraud.

“All of these people have attested under penalty of law that they are U.S. citizens. And, in all likelihood, they almost all U.S. Citizens. But they have NOT provided documented proof of citizenship,” he said.

He said there is no dispute that come 2025, this needs to be fixed, but “the Secretary and I have different opinions on what the law requires for the November 5, 2024 General Election.”

“It is my position that these registrants have not satisfied Arizona’s documented proof of citizenship law, and therefore can only vote a “FED ONLY” ballot,” he wrote.

“The Secretary argues that it is too close to the election to implement such a change and that it would be unduly burdensome on voters and deprive them of their voting rights. That is why we are going to the courts. To get a clear answer,” he wrote.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs issued a statement saying,  “My team identified and fixed an administrative error that originated in 2004, and affects longtime residents who received a driver’s license before 1996.

“As soon as I became aware of the problem, I directed MVD to work with the SOS to aggressively develop and implement a solution and, out of an abundance of caution, will be implementing an independent audit to ensure that MVD systems are functioning as necessary to support voter registration,” the statement said, according to KASW-TV.

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