Arizona officials are facing scrutiny after a voter list error placed nearly 100,000 individuals, including noncitizens, on the full-ballot voter roll. A leaked phone call reveals that Gov. Katie Hobbs and other officials privately worried that this mistake could validate Republican concerns about illegal voting.
Arizona law requires proof of citizenship for voters to participate in state elections. Voters who fail to provide such proof are registered as “federal-only” voters, limiting their participation to federal races. However, the recent discovery of a noncitizen on the full-ballot voter list has raised questions about how many other voters might have been incorrectly registered.
During a phone call with Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes, Hobbs expressed concern that this error would “validate all of their theories about illegal voting,” though she maintained that these theories were “not true.”
Election integrity advocates, like the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, have called on the Department of Homeland Security to review the voter list and remove any ineligible individuals. Hamilton, the foundation’s chairwoman, noted that the state could have avoided this issue by conducting proper voter list maintenance.
Despite concerns, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the 97,000 voters would remain on the rolls for the upcoming election. The court stated that removing them en masse would violate state law and due process.
With Arizona being a battleground state, this voter list error is likely to fuel further debates about election security.
