Lack of citizenship documents might keep many from voting in Arizona state and local races

PHOENIX (AP) — Nearly 100,000 voters who haven't submitted citizenship documents might be prevented from participating in Arizona's state and local elections, a significant number for the battleground state where races have been tight.

The announcement Tuesday of an error in state-run databases that reclassified voters comes just four days before county election officials are required to mail ballots to uniformed and overseas voters.

Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the error was resolved Tuesday morning, but the voter status of those caught up in it hasn't. Fontes and Stephen Richer, the Republican recorder for Maricopa County, disagree over whether the voters should have access to the full ballot or the ability to vote only in federal races.

Richer filed a special action Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to settle the question.

“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,” Richer wrote on the social platform X.

Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Those who haven’t but have sworn to it under the penalty of law are allowed to participate only in federal elections.

Arizona considers drivers’ licenses issued after October 1996 to be valid proof of citizenship. However, a system coding error marked more than 97,500 voters who obtained licenses before 1996 — roughly 2.5% of all registered voters — as full-ballot voters, state officials said.

While the error between the state’s voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division won’t impact the presidential race, that number of voters could tip the scales in hotly contested races in the state Legislature where Republicans have a slim majority in both chambers.

It also could affect ballot measures, including the constitutional right to abortion and criminalizing noncitizens for entering Arizona through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry.

Richer said his office discovered earlier this month that someone was classified as both a noncitizen and a full-ballot voter — in violation of state law. The person registered to vote in 2022 but has not cast a ballot in Arizona elections, Richer said.

The discrepancy led to a larger systemic issue with state databases, according to the court filing.

Fontes said the roughly 97,500 voters who were reclassified because of the error — more than half in Maricopa County — are longtime Arizonans and mostly Republicans who should be able to fully participate in the general election.

“This was discovered not because somebody was voting illegally and not because somebody was attempting to vote illegally as far as we can tell,” Fontes said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. “And this was basic voter roll maintenance and it showed us that there is this issue.”

Richer said Fontes ignored state law by advising county election officials to let affected voters cast full ballots. Fontes said not allowing the voters who believed they had satisfied voting requirements access to the full ballot raises equal protection and due process concerns.

“I am unwilling to disenfranchise this many voters by limiting them suddenly, and with little notice, to a federal only ballot when none of them had notice of or blame for this issue,” Fontes wrote in a letter to county recorders.

Fontes said elections officials eventually will contact the voters but not until the high court settles their status. He said his office would set up an electronic portal where voters can submit citizenship documents, if needed.

Fontes and Richer agreed that the voters would be required to prove they are U.S. citizens to participate in state and local elections after the 2024 general election.