A lawsuit filed on Monday alleges that Maricopa County’s election director is violating the law’s requirement to maintain voting lists to prevent foreigners from casting ballots in Arizona votes.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of resident Yvonne Cahill and the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, alleging that GOP Recorder Stephen Richer is “ignoring ]” his legally required obligations to” secure that foreign citizens are removed from Maricopa County’s voter rolls.” In Arizona, Richer lost his reelection bid last week during the state’s primary elections. He has been a steady defender of election dignity work.
The lawful filing states that” this petition seeks to regain public trust in our State’s democratic system by holding Recorder Richer responsible for his errors and making sure that the record repair is carried out in accordance with the law and common sense.”
America First Legal ( AFL ), a law firm led by former assistant attorney general of Arizona, and Jennifer Wright, their attorney, represent the plaintiffs.
AFL’s letter to Arizona’s 15 region recorders allegedly demanded they comply with their legal duty to confirm the citizen of the state’s Federal-Only voters, which apparently started next month. In Arizona, individuals who do not provide documentary proof of citizenship ( DPOC ) when registering to vote are permitted to do so as” Federal-Only Voters” and cast ballots in federal elections. That income is due to a 2013 U. S. Supreme Court ruling known as Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc.
In 2022, then-Gov. DPOC must be presented on voting registration aspects when registering in a state, according to Doug Ducey’s signature. That law also tasked state devices with “perform]ing ] monthly record maintenance to ensure the citizenship of all Federal-Only Electors”, according to the lawsuit.
Last month, a three-judge section at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the law’s protection. The defendants in the case are apparently considering taking the Supreme Court for an charm.
According to AFL, Richer responded to the team’s July 16 email through an attorney, “brazenly stating”, as AFL described” that he would not become taking any action” and claiming his company “is now following the law about verifying the membership of citizens”. Plaintiffs dispute the accuracy of that claim, contending that Richer “has failed to perform” right record servicing as required by state and federal law by omitting necessary steps to ensure only eligible U.S. people are on Maricopa’s voting spins.
Any foreign citizen who registers to vote is ineligible, the lawsuit claims.” Any foreign citizen who is registered to vote is not eligible,” the lawsuit states. Federal law mandates that county recorders “perform list maintenance” and make “reasonable efforts” to prevent foreigners from voting, according to federal law.
[RELATED: How Can States Use Current Laws to Find Foreign Citizens On Their Voter Records ]
A representative from Maricopa County’s recorder’s office told The Federalist that Richer “has not yet been served with the lawsuit and has not had opportunity to review it, and therefore cannot comment about it” when asked for comment on the plaintiffs ‘ allegations.
” The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, however, prioritizes and prides itself on maintaining accurate, up-to-date voter rolls”, the representative said. ” Under Recorder Stephen Richer, voter list maintenance has remained a top priority, removing more than 400, 000 voters from the rolls since January 2021. We will continue to adhere to the rules as an administrative office.
The plaintiffs have asked that Richer comply with the state’s voter list maintenance laws and that Richer abide by them.
AFL Legal Counsel James Rogers stated in a statement that Arizona has passed first-in-the-nation laws to help ensure that foreigners who are already on the voter rolls are removed as well. ” Yet, those laws have no impact if Arizona’s County Recorders ignore them”.
The Federalist staff writer Shawn Fleetwood graduated from 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, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
