REPORT: Arizona Supreme Court rules on case of 98,000 people with unconfirmed citizenship regarding voting rights

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From NBC News: The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that roughly 98,000 Arizonans whose voter registration status was in limbo will be able to participate in the full ballot in November.

The uncertainty regarding the voters’ fate came after the Maricopa County Recorder’s office discovered a clerical error from 2004 that granted the nearly 100,000 Arizonans voting registration status despite not providing documented proof of citizenship.

“Today marks a significant victory for those whose fundamental right to vote was under scrutiny,” said Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, in a statement. “We deeply appreciate the Arizona Supreme Court for their prompt and just resolution,” Fontes added.

The clerical snafu was first discovered earlier this month by the Maricopa County recorder’s office. In 2005, Arizona state law required documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The state considers driver’s licenses that were issued after October of 1996 to be documentary proof of citizenship.

But residents who received licenses prior to 1996 and who later received replacement IDs were automatically deemed to have “had documented proof of citizenship on file with the MVD” when none had actually been provided. As a result of tightened regulations imposed in 2004, those voters had never been asked to comply with the stricter rules, leaving the voting status of 97,928 Arizonans in limbo.

Stephen Richer, the Republican Maricopa County recorder, wrote, “AZ Supreme Court ruled for defendant (Fontes). The 100k registrants will continue to vote a full ballot this election. Thank God. Thank you Arizona Supreme Court for your extremely quick and professional review of this matter.”

“Thank you @Adrian_Fontes, @AZSecretary for your partnership on this. Thank you @GovernorHobbs and Department of Transportation for working so hard to quickly fix this for moving forward. And thanks to the attorneys at Snell & Wilmer for working so hard on my behalf to tee this up this legal argument so quickly.”

Republicans are in agreement with the state Supreme Court’s decision.

State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R) explained, “Everyone is asking, so here’s the lowdown. Our great @AZGOP @GinaSwoboda argued & won. @AZCourts ruled against Stephen Richer to let 97,000+ Arizonans vote their FULL BALLOT. These particular voters REGISTERED YEARS AGO in good faith. Just now, it was discovered (due to a database error) that these mostly Republicans hadn’t presented ID back then. Not their fault and they never would’ve known what’d hit them. They would’ve received their ballot next week and wondered why it was incomplete. Richer tried to limit them to a federal-only ballot. @AZCourts got it right by refusing to violate their right to equal protection and due process.”

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