The Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County ruled on Thursday that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes must release a list of over 218,000 registered voters who did not provide proof of citizenship when they registered.
This court order mandates that Fontes share this data with the nonprofit Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, which initiated the legal challenge, by Monday, just one day before Election Day.
The court order specifically requires Fontes to release the “original list of approximately 98,000 Affected Voters as identified in Richer v. Fontes” as well as any related datasets or communications containing personal identifying information (PII) about these voters.
This ruling follows a lawsuit filed in early October by America First Legal on behalf of Strong Communities, accusing Fontes of unlawfully withholding the requested information.
The issue originated in September when Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer discovered a flaw in the voter registration system that allowed individuals to register without submitting proof of citizenship.
Richer responded by filing an Emergency Petition with the Arizona Supreme Court to address the matter.
During the course of the lawsuit, Fontes acknowledged that nearly 98,000 voters had been mistakenly marked as having provided citizenship proof due to this system error, although they had never done so.
America First Legal’s press release outlined that, despite the error, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled these voters could remain registered for both state and local elections rather than being relegated to a federal-only voter list.
In response, America First Legal filed a public records request on behalf of Strong Communities to access the list of affected voters, but Fontes declined the request, sparking further legal action.
Additionally, on September 30, Fontes announced the discovery of another 120,000 registered voters who also had not provided proof of citizenship, further compounding the issue.
The case has drawn national attention, as Arizona’s voter eligibility laws have been a point of ongoing legal contention.
The state requires proof of citizenship for those voting in state and local elections, while voters on the federal-only list do not need to provide this proof for federal elections.
This latest court decision reinforces the requirement for transparency and documentation, emphasizing the need for proper verification in the voter registration process.
As Monday’s deadline for compliance approaches, the outcome of this case could impact Arizona’s election procedures and voter eligibility verification going forward, especially with such a large number of affected voters.