Federal prosecutors in Arizona have opened a case examining allegations that three nonprofit organizations improperly attempted to register noncitizens to vote ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine announced Friday that his office referred the allegations to the FBI for what prosecutors described as a thorough federal investigation. The three organizations identified by Courchaine are Stand Indivisible Arizona, Worker Power and When We Count, a voter-registration program operated by the Democratic National Committee.
No charges have been filed, and federal authorities have not announced that investigators have confirmed any noncitizens were actually registered by the organizations. Courchaine previously sent letters Monday to Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Republican Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap requesting reviews of registrations connected to the groups.
The prosecutor said written and video reports raised concerns that people working for the organizations may have violated Arizona election law. Courchaine wrote that personnel associated with the groups may have “either intentionally disregarded or were recklessly ignorant” of Arizona restrictions against registering noncitizens.
“Based on a cursory review,” Courchaine wrote, the organizations and their personnel may have violated Arizona’s statute governing registration of ineligible voters. That statute prohibits knowingly causing or procuring another person’s registration when the person responsible knows the prospective voter is legally ineligible to register.
Courchaine asked Fontes to examine registrations submitted by the organizations to determine whether only eligible American citizens had been placed on Arizona’s voter rolls. He made a similar request to Heap concerning registrations submitted within Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest and most politically consequential county.
The federal investigation appears to follow an undercover report published Oct. 22 involving encounters between journalists posing as ineligible voters and people associated with the organizations.
The undercover journalists presented themselves during various encounters as noncitizens or an individual on felony probation while asking whether they could register. Importantly, the journalists themselves said they ended each encounter before any voter-registration application was actually submitted.
Federal authorities have not publicly disclosed whether investigators possess additional evidence beyond the reports referenced by Courchaine in his letters. The DNC strongly disputed the allegations involving When We Count and said it was unaware of any fellows registering an ineligible noncitizen. A DNC spokesperson called the accusations “fabricated” (because of course) and said the organization’s voter-registration workers are trained to comply with applicable election laws.
Stand Indivisible Arizona describes itself as a nonpartisan, volunteer-driven community organization based in Scottsdale and involved in political activism, but ‘non-partisan’ usually means…Democrat-aligned.
Worker Power describes itself as a ‘multiracial’ and ‘multigenerational’ social-welfare organization focused on ‘democracy’ and issues affecting working families (more code words for “We’re Democrats”). When We Count identifies itself with Democratic politics and focuses on voter registration and political engagement through its fellows and volunteers.
The timing of the FBI referral places additional federal scrutiny on Arizona’s election system just days before voters complete the Nov. 3 midterms. Arizona has become one of the nation’s most closely watched battlegrounds after a series of narrowly decided statewide elections over recent cycles.
Courchaine used Friday’s announcement to remind Arizona residents that federal elections are legally restricted to United States citizens. Noncitizens cannot vote in Tuesday’s federal election even when they are lawfully residing in America through visas or permanent-resident status, his office said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also warned that knowingly registering someone while knowing that individual is ineligible can violate federal law. The Arizona investigation comes as the Trump administration has expanded federal scrutiny of voter-registration records and suspected noncitizen registrations nationwide.
DOJ has pursued voter-registration information from numerous states while federal officials argue that access is necessary to enforce federal election laws and identify potentially ineligible registrations. The Arizona case differs because federal prosecutors are examining specific organizations and their voter-registration activities rather than conducting only a broad review of state databases.
