Judge Orders Arizona’s Elections Chief To Release The Names Of 218K Voters Lacking Citizenship Proof
Arizona’s elections chief must disclose the identities of 218,000 individuals on the state’s voter rolls who lack documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC), a judge ruled on Thursday.
Writing on behalf of Maricopa County Superior Court, Judge Scott Blaney ordered Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to comply with an open records request filed by Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona (“EZAZ.org”).
The conservative grassroots organization submitted the request last month shortly after state officials revealed there are approximately 98,000 registered “full-ballot” voters who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship, which is required to participate in state and local elections. The error appears to have resulted “from the way the Motor Vehicle Division [MVD] provides driver’s license information to the state’s voter registration system,” according to Votebeat Arizona.
Fontes said most of the affected voters are registered Republicans, according to the outlet.
In Arizona, voters registering via state registration form must show DPOC to vote in state and local races. Individuals who are unable to provide such documentation are registered as “federal-only” voters and can only cast ballots in federal races.
Later that month, state officials revealed that they found an additional 120,000 registered voters lacking DPOC, bringing the total number of affected voters to 218,000. That discovery was announced after the Arizona Supreme Court had already sided with Fontes and the Arizona GOP in granting affected registrants the ability to vote “full ballot” this fall.
(Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, along with state resident Yvonne Cahill, filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that the high court should mandate county recorders to “send full ballots to all Affected Voters on the early voting list,” but should also “order … all ballots returned by Affected Voters [to] be segregated pending confirmation of the voter’s citizenship”).
Fontes’ refusal to comply with Strong Communities Foundation’s open records request before the 2024 election prompted the group to sue the secretary and the Arizona Department of State over the matter earlier this month. The group is represented by America First Legal and a law firm spearheaded by former Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright.
In his Thursday decision, Blaney noted how Fontes “provided inconsistent testimony” regarding his initial claim in court that his office (AZSOS) only possessed the list of 98,000 registrants first reported, and not the complete list of 218,000 affected individuals. According to the judge, the Democrat secretary claimed his “press release’s reference to a complete list was because of hasty drafting and ‘unartful’ language,” and that his team “was not in possession of a list and that no such list of Affected Voters existed for the additional approximately 118,000 people who may not have shown sufficient DPOC.”
“Secretary Fontes maintained that MVD never provided him with a list that contains any personally identifiable information of the additional 118,000 Affected Voters,” Blaney wrote. “However, Secretary Fontes provided inconsistent testimony on this point, initially denying that he even possessed a list of initial 98,000 voters, and then changing his testimony after returning from lunch. His testimony suggested that he lacked detailed familiarity with the AZSOS’s efforts with regard to the issue and with regard to the records in the possession of the AZSOS related to the 218,000 individuals.”
During this week’s court hearing, Fontes and his office’s “expert witness” argued that releasing the list of 218,000 registrants in question would open these individuals up to what Blaney described as a “risk of harassment and violence.” As noted by the Maricopa judge, however, both parties “failed to identify any specific threats of violence or harassment from EZAZ.org,” noting that “the only evidence they presented was about generalized threats of elected-related political violence, most against elected officials.”
“Secretary Fontes argued that providing the list of 218,000 Affected Voters would necessarily lead to violence — even sure death — of one or more Affected Voters, even if this Court specifically ordered that EZAZ.org could only distribute the list of Affected Voters to county recorders, leadership for the Arizona state legislature, and the Arizona Senate and House Elections Committee,” Blaney wrote. “The Secretary’s claims were not credible and not supported by evidence.”
Blaney concluded that Fontes failed to establish “by a preponderance of the evidence that production of the records would violate rights of privacy or confidentiality or would be detrimental to the best interests of the state.” The judge subsequently ordered the secretary’s office to release “no later than” noon on Monday, Nov. 4, the initial list of 98,000 affected registrants to EZAZ.org and “any communications with county recorders that contain any datasets, compilation of information, list, or any portion of a list of Affected Voters or that otherwise contain [personally identifying information] of Affected Voters.”
Any information “relied upon” by Fontes’ office when “drafting and issuing” its Oct. 3 press release about the nearly 120,000 additional registrants lacking DPOC must also be provided to EZAZ.org by the Monday deadline.
The court did, however, specify that prior to Wednesday, Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona “may only distribute lists or information that includes any personally identifiable information of any Affected Voters” to county recorders and leading members of the state legislature. Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona is further prohibited from providing the personally identifiable information of these registrants to third parties and “knowingly” contacting these individuals prior to Wednesday, Nov. 6.
For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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