Many More Arizona Voters Missing Proof of Citizenship Than First Disclosed: Official

Newly elected Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes gives a speech at American Legion Post 41 in Phoenix on Nov. 14, 2022. Jon Cherry/Getty Images

About 218,000 voters in Arizona have not provided proof of citizenship, the state’s top election official said on Sept. 30.

That’s up from the 97,688 previously disclosed.

The new set of about 120,000 voters was identified as officials work to fix what they call a coding error in databases for Arizona voters and drivers. The error caused the statewide voting database to accept driver’s licenses as proof of citizenship even if the license was a duplicate of one issued before 1996, when no proof of citizenship was required to obtain a license.

Among the voters, about 79,000 are Republicans and about 61,000 are Democrats, according to the office of Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.

Officials plan on contacting the voters after the upcoming election “if necessary,” but the voters, including the newfound set, remain eligible to cast ballots despite lacking the statutorily required proof of citizenship, Fontes said.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in September that the voters without confirmed proof of citizenship could vote in November, siding with Fontes against Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican. Justices said voters aren’t behind the coding error and attested under penalty of prosecution that they’re U.S. citizens.

Arizona in 2004 mandated that voters provide proof of citizenship, but the requirement was narrowed to state and local races under a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That means that voters can vote in federal races without providing proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate.

“The reality is these registrants have met the same legal standard as every other American who registers to vote: swearing under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens,“ Fontes, who was elected in 2022, said in a statement. ”We can’t risk denying actual citizens the right to vote due to an error out of their control. This issue is another example of why we need to fund elections, update systems and staff, and carry forward our proven tradition of safe, fair and secure elections.”

Fontes did not rule out discovering even more voters who have not provided proof of citizenship. His office stated that if additional voters are found, or if similar errors are identified, the office will keep the public informed when it has “accurate, confirmed information to share.”

Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda said in a statement that the public and Arizona Supreme Court justices were misled regarding the extent of the issue and demanded that Fontes immediately deliver the list of affected voters to all county recorders.

“Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has repeatedly demonstrated a complete inability to execute the core functions of his position,” she said.

Swoboda encouraged people to not be dissuaded from voting.