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,
