Approximately 98,000 people in Arizona whose citizenship documents hadn’t been confirmed can vote in state and local elections, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled.
🚨Just in: The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that 98,000 people whose citizenship documents haven't been confirmed are able to vote in state and local elections.
Via: The AP pic.twitter.com/usa5sNWl76
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) September 21, 2024
The ruling could make a significant difference in ballot measures and close legislative races, the Associated Press noted.
BREAKING: Arizona Supreme Court rules nearly 98,000 people whose citizenship documents had not been confirmed can vote in all races.
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) September 21, 2024
From the Associated Press:
The court’s decision comes after officials uncovered a database error that for two decades mistakenly designated the voters as having access to the full ballot. The voters already were entitled to cast ballots in federal races, including for president and Congress, regardless of how the court ruled.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, and Stephen Richer, the Republican Maricopa County recorder, had disagreed on what status the voters should hold. Richer asked the high court to weigh in, saying Fontes ignored state law by advising county officials to let affected voters cast full ballots.
Fontes said not allowing the voters who believed they had satisfied voting requirements access to the full ballot would raise equal protection and due process concerns.
The high court, which leans Republican, agreed with Fontes. It said county officials lack the authority to change the voters’ statuses because those voters registered long ago and had attested under the penalty of law that they are citizens. The justices also said the voters were not at fault for the database error and also mentioned the little time that’s left before the Nov. 5 general election.
Breaking: Arizona Supreme Court rules that 97,000 residents wrongly listed in voter roll can vote in November https://t.co/IaBbN4Rlh6
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) September 21, 2024
Arizona Supreme Court rules 98,000 people with unconfirmed citizenship documents may vote in all races.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/e7VIAKxT4A
— AF Post (@AFpost) September 21, 2024
Per Just the News:
Arizona law requires voters to file documents that prove their citizenship in order to vote in state and local elections, but not in federal ones. But an error was discovered on Tuesday that revealed thousands of residents had applied for driver’s licenses without proving that they were citizens. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has also admitted the issue and said that the error is being fixed.
The ruling sides with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, who claimed it was too late to do anything about the November election. Fontes also claimed that prohibiting the residents from voting in an election they could easily be qualified to vote in, could raise equal protection and due process concerns.
“We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests,” Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer stated in the ruling, reported by the Associated Press.