Arizona Supreme Court decides nearly 100,000 voters will get full ballot access after clerical error
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that roughly 98,000 Arizonans whose voter registration status was in limbo will be able to participate in the full ballot in November.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that roughly 98,000 Arizonans whose voter registration status was in limbo will be able to participate in the full ballot in November.
The uncertainty regarding the voters’ fate came after the Maricopa County Recorder’s office discovered a clerical error from 2004 that granted the nearly 100,000 Arizonans voting registration status despite not providing documented proof of citizenship.
“Today marks a significant victory for those whose fundamental right to vote was under scrutiny,” said Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, in a statement. “We deeply appreciate the Arizona Supreme Court for their prompt and just resolution,” Fontes added.
Election workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix on Nov. 9, 2022.John Moore / Getty Images fileThe clerical snafu was first discovered earlier this month by the Maricopa County recorder’s office. In 2005, Arizona state law required documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The state considers driver’s licenses that were issued after October of 1996 to be documentary proof of citizenship.
But residents who received licenses prior to 1996 and who later received replacement IDs were automatically deemed to have “had documented proof of citizenship on file with the MVD” when none had actually been provided. As a result of tightened regulations imposed in 2004, those voters had never been asked to comply with the stricter rules, leaving the voting status of 97,928 Arizonans in limbo.
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