Nearly 100K Arizonans can vote without verifying citizenship, court says

The state supreme court on Friday decided that about 98,000 people who failed to meet new proof of citizenship requirements can still vote in the November election. The Maricopa County Recorder’s office earlier this month discovered a clerical error from 2004 that mistakenly granted the Arizona residents active voting registration status. Arizona state law requires documentary proof of citizenship for residents to vote in state and local elections. For valid ID, the state recognizes all driver’s licenses issued after October 1996. That’s when the state’s Motor Vehicle Division began requiring proof of citizenship to obtain a driver’s license.

An error in MVD’s system allowed people with pre-1996 licenses to use a replacement license they obtained after 1996 as proof of citizenship. The MVD did not require proof of citizenship before issuing replacement or duplicate licenses.

How did the issue make its way to the Supreme Court? Arizona voters who cannot provide proof of citizenship are allowed to vote, but only in federal races. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer last week filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Adrian Fontes arguing that the voters in question should only receive federal ballots. Richer said he filed the lawsuit to prompt a quick response from the courts and he applauded the justice’s decision to allow the voters to participate in state and local elections. Fontes also welcomed the decision. 

  Dig deeper: Read my voter guide about the upcoming election in Arizona.