The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that nearly 98,000 individuals whose proof of citizenship documents were not confirmed can vote in state and local races. This decision comes after officials discovered a database error that allowed people who had not provided proof of citizenship to vote the full ballot for almost two decades. The affected voters were not suspected to be non-U.S. citizens by either the county recorder or the state’s top election official, but they disagreed on what status these voters should hold.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, filed an emergency petition asking the state Supreme Court to intervene. He challenged guidance from Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, regarding voters who may not have provided documentary proof of citizenship during registration.
The state Supreme Court sided with Fontes, stating that Richer did not demonstrate that county recorders have the authority to remove these voters from casting ballots in future elections.
Arizona residents have been required to provide documentary proof of citizenship since Proposition 200 was approved in 2004. Voters must provide a driver’s license or tribal ID number or attach a copy of their birth certificate, passport, or naturalization documents when voting in local and state races.
However, due to an error between the voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division database, around 97,928 voters with licenses issued before October 1st, 1996 were marked as full-ballot voters.
This could potentially impact hotly contested state legislature races where Republicans currently hold a slim majority over Democrats and also affect ballot initiatives.
Richer argued that these affected voters should only be allowed to vote on federal-only ballots until they provide documented proof of citizenship as required by Proposition 200. On the other hand, Fontes directed county recorders to take no action and allow these voters to participate in all elections.
According to Arizona law and the justices’ ruling, once a voter’s application is accepted and attested under penalty of law as being a U.S. citizen it cannot be revoked unless there is evidence proving otherwise.
The court emphasized that changing election procedures shortly before voting begins would be unwise given its close proximity to November’s election date.
Both Richer and Fontes welcomed this ruling with Richer expressing gratitude towards Fontes for partnering with him on addressing this issue through social media platforms.
