Arizona Supreme Court says people without citizenship proof can vote.
The Arizona Supreme Court made a significant ruling on Friday that will impact almost 98,000 individuals whose citizenship status was questioned, allowing them to vote in state and local elections. This decision followed the discovery of a database error that incorrectly categorized these voters as eligible to cast a full ballot for the past twenty years. The ruling stemmed from a disagreement between Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, and Republican Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer regarding the appropriate status for these affected voters.
Richer raised concerns that Fontes was disregarding state laws by advising county officials to permit these individuals to cast full ballots despite the uncertainty surrounding their citizenship status. However, Fontes argued that denying these voters who believed they had met all voting requirements access to the complete ballot would raise issues related to equal protection and due process. The Arizona Supreme Court ultimately sided with Fontes, emphasizing that county officials did not have the authority to change the voter statuses since these individuals had registered long ago and affirmed under oath that they were citizens. The justices also acknowledged the time-sensitive nature of the upcoming Nov. 5 general election.
Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer articulated the court’s stance, stating, “We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests.” Arizona stands out among states for its requirement that voters prove their citizenship to participate in both local and state elections. Acceptable forms of demonstrating citizenship include providing a driver’s license or tribal ID number, as well as submitting a copy of a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization documents.
Arizona recognizes drivers’ licenses issued after October 1996 as valid proof of citizenship. However, a coding error in the system misidentified nearly 98,000 voters who acquired licenses before 1996, constituting approximately 2.5% of all registered voters, as eligible to cast full ballots. While this error would not have impacted the presidential race, it could have substantial consequences for tightly contested races in the state Legislature, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in both chambers.
Moreover, this issue could also influence ballot measures that are on the upcoming agenda, including proposals related to the constitutional right to abortion and the criminalization of noncitizens entering Arizona from locations other than designated ports of entry along the border with Mexico. Richer expressed his gratitude on the social platform X, thanking the court for promptly addressing the case and Fontes for collaborating to rectify the database error.
