AZ Supreme Court rules on voter eligibility case
The case came about after the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office uncovered an error that, for two decades, mistakenly designated over 90,000 voters as having access to the full ballot. The error is connected with a state law that requires voters to provide documented proof of citizenship.
PHOENIX – The Arizona State Supreme Court has ruled that Arizona voters affected by a registration system error can vote on the full ballot in the upcoming general election.
Outgoing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer made the announcement on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account on the afternoon of Sept. 20.
Per the court ruling, those who registered to vote in Arizona by Jan. 24, 2005, when a voter-approved ballot initiative on voters providing proof of citizenship took effect, are “deemed to have provided satisfactory evidence of [documentary proof of citizenship] and are not required to resubmit evidence of citizenship unless the person is changing voter registration form one county onto another.”
“[Stephen] Richer has not established that the county recorders have statutory authority to remove the Affected Voters from being able to vote in the upcoming 2024 General Election for federal offices and with respect to matters on an Arizona ballot,” read a portion of the court ruling.
The court ruling also states that under relevant state law, the county recorder “is to initiate a process to cancel a registration that includes sending the person notice that the person’s registration will be canceled in [35] days unless the person provides satisfactory evidence of United States citizenship,” and that the law also “recognizes the right of any voter to notice and an opportunity to contest any determination of a voter’s ineligibility.”
“We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests. Doing so is not authorized by state law and would violate principles of due process,” read a portion of the ruling.
Error recently discovered
(Earlier Video) Voter registration error could impact AZ voters
On Sept. 17, we reported that the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office discovered 97,000 voters who were able to register to vote without providing documented proof of citizenship.
“This flaw has existed since 2004. In every county across the state,” Richer said at the time.
Since 2004, Arizona requires a voter to provide documented proof of citizenship. So, if a driver with an older license registers to vote, the MVD thinks they have proof of citizenship in the system and allows them to vote a full ballot. The error has allowed them to slip through the cracks for years.
At the time the error was announced, Richer said the majority of the affected voters are most likely U.S. citizens: they just don’t have documented proof. The largest group of them are Republicans, followed by independents and Democrats. Most of the people affected are between the ages of 45 and 60, and over 60% of them are in Maricopa County.
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office wanted those people to not be allowed to vote on a full ballot – which includes federal, state and local elections – and vote instead on a federal-only ballot which includes only elections to federal offices.
