(Rightallegiance.com) – Arizona’s voter registration system is facing a significant error affecting nearly 100,000 registered voters, potentially complicating upcoming elections. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced that the issue arose from a mistake in how the state’s Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) supplied data to voter rolls.
The error, which has persisted unnoticed for almost two decades, has left it unclear whether these voters, primarily those who obtained Arizona driver’s licenses before October 1996, provided documented proof of U.S. citizenship as required by state law.
Arizona’s laws mandate proof of U.S. citizenship for state and local elections, but those who haven’t provided proof are designated as “federal only” voters, allowed to vote only for president and Congress.
The error was flagged when a Maricopa County worker discovered an individual with a green card, ineligible to vote, incorrectly added to voter rolls as a full-ballot voter. This person had never voted, but the discovery has prompted concerns about noncitizen voting.
Governor Katie Hobbs has ordered an independent audit of the MVD system, while Maricopa County filed a friendly lawsuit asking that affected voters still be allowed to vote in federal elections. Fontes’ office, however, advocates for maintaining the current full-ballot status for these voters.
The MVD’s mishandling of license issuance dates, specifically when voters requested duplicate licenses, led to the confusion.
The error primarily affects voters who lean Republican and are aged 45 to 60, adding further scrutiny in the swing state’s upcoming presidential election, where every vote could count.