Arizona voters with eligibility questions related to citizenship glitch told to ‘hang tight’

PHOENIX – Arizona voters concerned about their registration status due to a system glitch related to proof of citizenship are being told to “hang tight” until the issue is settled in court.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said Tuesday that election officials will contact voters once it’s been confirmed they could be ineligible to vote in state and local races in the Nov. 5 general election.

The 20-year-old state voter registration system error, which was just discovered this month, does not affect whether someone can vote in this year’s presidential election, because federal proof of citizenship standards aren’t as strict as Arizona’s.

“Until you are contacted by a state election official or a county election official, just hang tight. We will make sure to get this resolved,” Fontes said during a press conference.

Fontes also said his office is looking into other ways to confirm election eligibility for some of the people whose registration status might be in doubt.

“If you are on this list, rest assured you will be contacted soon by elections officials. That being said, we are not going to start contacting voters willy-nilly until we have final resolution from the court,” he said.

Why are some Arizona voters worried about registration status?

The problem dates back to a 2004 state law and could impact more than 97,000 voters statewide, officials revealed Tuesday.

The law requires voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to be eligible to participate in state and local elections. Arizonans who haven’t provided documentary proof but attest to their citizenship can vote, but only in federal races, per U.S. law.

Arizona driver’s licenses are accepted as proof of citizenship for voter registration in the state because residents have been required to provide documentation of citizenship to get their license since Oct. 1, 1996.

However, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office recently discovered a glitch in the interface between the state’s voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division.

Here’s how you can determine if you were impacted. @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/6HJkupxcr2

— Heidi Hommel (@heidi_hommel) September 17, 2024

The MVD has not been flagging voters who originally got their licenses before the 1996 cutoff and also were issued duplicates at some point afterward, meaning those voters have not supplied the state with proof of citizenship. In those cases, the system was erroneously showing the date of the duplicate as the license issuance date, leading elections officials to incorrectly believe the MVD had proof of citizenship on record.

Those voters who moved to a different county might also be affected.

It does not necessarily mean those individuals are not citizens, it just means they haven’t provided the documentation as required under state law.

“We have no reason to believe that there are any significant numbers of individuals remaining on this list who are not eligible to vote in Arizona. We cannot confirm that at this moment, but we don’t have any reason to believe that,” Fontes said.

Why is the Maricopa County recorder is suing the secretary of state?

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed what he called a “friendly lawsuit” so the courts could decide how to address the issue.

In the lawsuit, Fontes and Richer presented opposing views on how election officials should treat the registered voters how haven’t provided valid proof of citizenship.

If the law — as determined by the courts — requires these voters to provide DPOC prior to the November election, then the 15 county recorders and @AZSecretary will do everything we can to notify the affected voters. https://t.co/8yziIRNY2H

— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) September 17, 2024

Fontes argued that due to how close it is to the election, they should be allowed to vote in state and local races in the November election. Richer’s position is that they should be limited to a federal-only ballot.

With military and overseas ballots scheduled to be sent out Saturday, time is of the essence. In addition, ballots will be sent to members of the Active Early Voting List on Oct. 9, which is the first day of early voting.

If the Arizona Supreme court rules in favor of Richer, impacted voters will still have a chance to provide proof of citizenship before the election, Fontes said.

“But until that announcement gets made and folks get notified, we’re asking folks to just stand by,” he said.

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