America First Legal (AFL), a group aligned with former President Donald Trump, won its lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) on Thursday over 218,000 voters who were incorrectly registered as providing proof of U.S. citizenship. The Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County ruled on Thursday that Fontes must provide the list of more than 218,000 voters who did not provide proof of U.S. citizenship 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.
Supporters are calling the ruling a big decision in support of election integrity, especially in a state that has become a major battleground over the past couple of cycles. AFL senior legal counsel James Rogers said 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. Instead, he has jealously guarded the list, refusing to share it with anyone,” Rogers added. “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.”
AFL filed a lawsuit against the Democratic secretary of state earlier this month after the secretary of state’s office revealed that an additional 120,000 Arizona residents had been added to the state’s voter rolls as having provided proof of U.S. citizenship, despite not having done so. The issue has affected approximately 79,000 Republicans, 61,000 Democrats, and 76,000 members of other parties, Just the News reported.
The secretary’s announcement followed a disclosure two weeks prior, in which he stated that there was an error in state systems that incorrectly labeled roughly 98,000 voters as having provided documented proof of U.S. citizenship when they had not. Arizona faces a unique situation with bifurcated elections, allowing residents who provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in all elections, while those who do not can only vote in federal elections. This results in ballots cast by voters who have not verified their U.S. citizenship, the outlet added.
AFL contended in its lawsuit that the secretary of state’s office unlawfully 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 mandating that local offices investigate voters registered without proof of citizenship, said the report.
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