On Friday, the Arizona Supreme Court authorized nearly 100,000 voters to vote “full-ballot” this November after election officials found a government-induced “error” put their registration statuses into question.
“[W]e are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests,” Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer wrote. “Doing so is not authorized by state law and would violate principles of due process.”
The issue came to fruition last week when state officials revealed they discovered roughly 97,000 voters on the state registration lists are classified as full-ballot voters despite not having provided documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC). According to left-leaning Votebeat Arizona, the decades-old error appears to have resulted “from the way the Motor Vehicle Division provides driver’s license information to the state’s voter registration system.”
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said these voters “lean more heavily Republican” and are between 45-60 years old, according to the outlet.
In Arizona, voters registering via state registration form must provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to vote in state and local races. Those who are unable to provide such proof are registered as “federal-only” voters and can only cast ballots in federal races.
Following last week’s revelation, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a lawsuit asking the state supreme court to force Fontes to classify the 97,000 voters in question as federal-only voters until they provide DPOC. Fontes and leading Arizona Republicans disagreed and argued these voters should be allowed to vote full-ballot this November.
Siding with Fontes and Republicans,
