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.
Judge Scott Blaney directed Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to comply with Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona’s ( “EZAZ” )’s” request for public records. org” ).
The conservative, grassroots organization requested the request last month shortly after state officials discovered there are roughly 98, 000 registered “full-ballot” voters who have n’t provided the required documentary proof of citizenship to vote in local and state elections. The problem appears to have resulted “from the way the Motor Vehicle Division]MVD] provides pilot’s license details to the country’s voter registration system”, according to , Votebeat Arizona.
Fontes said most of the damaged voters are registered Republicans, according to the store.
In Arizona,  , voters , registering via state subscription form must present DPOC to vote in state and local tribes. People who are unable to provide for documentation are referred to as “federal-only” citizens and are limited to casting ballots in federal elections.
State officials later that month revealed that they had discovered an extra 120, 000 registered citizens without DPOC, bringing the total number of affected citizens to 218 000. After Fontes and the Arizona GOP had previously won the “full poll” initiative, the Arizona Supreme Court made the discovery public.
( 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” ).
[READ: Stolen Call: AZ Democrat Officials Feared Voter List Error Do” Authenticate” GOP Concerns About” Illegal Voting.”
The party sued the minister and the Arizona Department of State earlier this month because of Fontes ‘ refusal to comply with Solid Communities Foundation’s demand for open data before the 2024 election. America First Legal, a law firm led by former assistant attorney general of Arizona, Jennifer Wright, serves as its representatives.
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. The Democrat minister claimed that his group “was not in possession of a list” and that no quite list of Affected Voters existed for the more nearly 118, 000 people who may not have shown enough DPOC because the “press release’s reference to a list was due to premature drafting and’unartful’ language.”
According to Blaney,” Secretary Fontes argued that MVD always gave him a list containing any personally-identifiable information about the additional 118, 000 Affected Voters.” Secretary Fontes, however, initially denied having a list of the original 98, 000 voters, before changing his account after returning from lunch. He also gave contradictory evidence on this point. His testimonies suggested he lacked a thorough understanding of the AZSOS’s work in relation to the issue and the AZSOS’s information relating to the 218, 000 individuals.
During this year’s courtroom hearing, Fontes and his company’s “expert see” argued that releasing the record of 218, 000 registrants in question may start these individuals up to what Blaney described as a “risk of abuse and murder”. However, both parties “failed to determine any particular threats of violence or intimidation from EZAZ,” as the Maricopa prosecutor pointed out. org”, noting that” the only proof they presented was about broad threats of elected-related political crime, most against elected leaders”.
Even if this Court had especially ordered that EZAZ, Secretary Fontes argued that providing the listing of 218, 000 Affected Voters would inevitably lead to assault, yet to one or more Affected Voters ‘ deaths. nonprofit could only distribute the record of Damaged Citizens to state devices, authority 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”.
According to Blaney, Fontes failed to establish” by a preponderance of the evidence” that the production of the records would violate the state’s best interests, violated privacy, or be in the public’s best interest. 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.
However, the court did state that Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona “may only distribute lists or information that include any personally identifiable information of any Affected Voters” to county recorders and influential members of the state legislature prior to Wednesday. Additionally, it is against the law for theStrong Communities Foundation of Arizona to “knowingly” contact these individuals before Wednesday, November 6 and to not give out the personally identifiable information of these registrants to third parties.
For more election news and updates, visit , electionbriefing.com.
Shawn Fleetwood is a University of Mary Washington graduate and a staff writer for The Federalist. 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
