OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A court in Arizona has sided with a legal organization aligned with former President Donald Trump, ordering Maricopa County to provide a list of 218,000 voters who lack proof of citizenship.
The Superior Court of Arizona ruled on Thursday that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) must provide the list to America First Legal containing voters who have yet to provide proof that they are citizens. The court ordered Fontes to provide the names by Monday.
“Defendants shall release to Plaintiff no later than noon on Monday, November 4, 2024, the original list of approximately 98,000 Affected Voters as specifically identified in Richer v. Fontes,” the court order reads.
“Defendants shall release to Plaintiff no later than noon on Monday, November 4, 2024, any other datasets, compilation of information, lists, or communications from MVD containing personally identifying information (PII) about Affected Voters,” the court added.
AFL filed a lawsuit against Fontes earlier this month after the secretary of state’s office revealed that an additional 120,000 Arizona residents had been incorrectly added to the state’s voter rolls as having provided proof of U.S. citizenship, despite not having done so.
The situation has affected approximately 79,000 Republicans, 61,000 Democrats, and 76,000 members of other parties.
The secretary’s announcement followed a disclosure two weeks earlier, in which he explained that an error in state systems had misidentified roughly 98,000 voters as having submitted documented proof of U.S. citizenship when they had not.
Arizona has a unique situation with bifurcated elections, allowing residents who provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in all elections, while those without proof can only vote in federal elections. This leads to ballots being cast by voters who have not verified their U.S. citizenship.
In its lawsuit, AFL argued that the secretary of state’s office illegally withheld the list of 218,000 voters who have not provided proof of citizenship. Fontes’ office denied a public records request for the list, and county recorders have also not received it, despite state law requiring local offices to investigate voters registered without citizenship proof.
AFL senior legal counsel James Rogers hailed the ruling in a statement Thursday: “A majority of Arizonans no longer trust the election system of our state. One of the reasons is the lack of transparency from our state’s elected officials.
“When Secretary Fontes discovered the glitch that allowed 218,000 individuals to register without providing proof of citizenship, he should have immediately shared the list of affected individuals with Arizona’s county recorders, who are in charge of verifying the citizenship of voters,” Rogers added.
“Instead, he has jealously guarded the list, refusing to share it with anyone. This suit was about restoring transparency and ensuring that county recorders can do their jobs by verifying the citizenship of voters. It is unfortunate that Secretary Fontes so aggressively opposed our common-sense efforts to help restore trust in our state’s election system. This was a case we never should have needed to file,” Rogers noted further.
The latest poll of Arizona voters indicates that former President Donald Trump is leading in the presidential election, while Democratic candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego is pulling away from Kari Lake in the U.S. Senate race.
Conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, the poll has a margin of error of ±3.5% and shows shifts among Independent voters, suggesting that Arizona will feature many competitive races leading up to November 5, Just the News reported.
“Arizona’s competitive landscape speaks to the importance of every voter,” said NPI Founder and CEO Mike Noble. “This election will hinge on which candidates can best capture the Independent and undecided voters who can tip the scales in either direction. The stakes are high, and Arizona’s role as a swing state will keep all eyes here through the final vote count.”
“Arizona is a unique state – home to a strong MAGA base, a real segment of McCain moderates, true blue Democrats, and a healthy number of swing voters,” Noble added. “This mix of voters can elect Democrats or Republicans. But we believe that Trump has the edge. By registration, the GOP is the largest party – so Trump doesn’t need full party loyalty to win. He needs enough Republicans and enough Independents to stay ahead of a unified Democratic Party. Right now, he has just that.”
