America First Legal has filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Secretary of State for not releasing a list of 216,000 voters, mostly long-time residents who did not prove their citizenship under a 2004 law due to a coding error. The Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona’s public records request was rejected, with the lawsuit arguing that the denial of access to these records goes against the core purpose of the Public Records Law. Time is deemed essential, and the lawsuit requests for the public records request to be fulfilled by October 7.
The legal counsel of Secretary of State Adrian Fontes expressed concern that granting access to the list to the nonprofit could potentially lead to voter intimidation. The Arizona Supreme Court had previously ruled that the affected voters could receive a full ballot due to the proximity to when ballots were set to be mailed. Originally believed to be 98,000 individuals, the list was discovered to actually include a total of 118,000 more people. Regardless of the outcome, the additional citizenship requirement would have only impacted state races, as federal contests are not affected by state laws.
An update from Fontes’ office stated that they have been supplying county recorders in the state with voter data from the initial group to begin citizenship verification through the SAVE database. Efforts are being made to verify proof of citizenship through internal and external sources to shorten the list. The office made revisions to the number from 218,000 to 216,000. Fontes emphasized that the affected individuals remain eligible voters, attesting under the penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens, as required by the rest of the country.
The lawsuit by America First Legal argues that the Secretary of State should fulfill the public records request to allow for the monitoring of government actions, which is the core purpose of the Public Records Law. The denial of access to these records was seen as obstructing this purpose. The concern for voter intimidation was raised in response to the request from the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona. The secretary’s office expressed fears that the true intent of the request was not to monitor government actions, but to harass and intimidate voters.
Fontes emphasized that the issue arose due to the implementation of Arizona’s Prop 200 in 2004, which created the unique burden that is now causing voter registration issues. All impacted individuals have been identified as eligible voters and long-time residents of Arizona. Fontes stated that had it not been for the implementation of Prop 200, this issue would not exist. Efforts are ongoing to verify proof of citizenship for the affected voters, with the hope of resolving the situation promptly. The office remains focused on addressing the issue while refraining from commenting on the pending litigation.
