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Arizona Court Grants Voting Rights to 98,000 with Unverified Citizenship
By
Jake Beardslee
· September 21, 2024
Arizona's Supreme Court has ruled that approximately 98,000 residents with unverified citizenship status can participate in state and local elections.
This decision follows the discovery of a database error affecting voters' citizenship verification,
according to the Associated Press
.
CGP Grey / Wikimedia
Secretary of State
Adrian Fontes
, a Democrat, announced the resolution of the error, but the status of affected voters remained uncertain.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, sought the court's opinion on the matter.
Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia
The court agreed with Fontes' argument that denying voting rights to those who believed they had met citizenship requirements would raise constitutional concerns.
Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia
Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer
stated in the ruling
, "We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests."
Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia
Fontes celebrated the ruling on X,
writing
: "We won. No voters on 'the list' will be made Fed-Only. Congrats team. Thank you amici. Now ... let's go have an election!!"
Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia
Richer, despite his initial disagreement, thanked the court for their swift review,
stating on X
: "Arizona Supreme Court ruled for defendant (Fontes). The 100k registrants will continue to vote a full ballot this election. Thank God."
Madden / Wikimedia
Arizona has required proof of U.S. citizenship for state and local elections since 2005.
The database error primarily affected longtime residents aged 45 to 60, with a slight majority being registered Republicans.
Element5 Digital / Pexels
The Arizona Republican Party supported allowing these voters to participate.
State GOP chair Gina Swoboda
said in a statement to
Newsweek
, "Nearly 100,000 Arizona voters should not be penalized for a mistake made by the government."
Arizona Republican Party / Wikimedia