Arizona AG: Opposes new voter registration date of Oct. 23, cites confusion

PHOENIX - Arizona's early voter ballots were sent out Oct. 7, and now there's a fight over extending the voter registration process that was announced just hours before the Oct. 5 midnight deadline.

As of Wednesday, the new deadline to register vote is Oct. 23 at 5 p.m., but the state's Attorney General, Mark Brnovich, says he wants things to go back to the way they were because he says changing things up this late in the game will only be confusing to voters.

For the past 30 years, Arizona's deadline to register to vote in the November election has been 29 days prior to the election.

"We want everyone to follow the law regardless of who they are and we don’t want a judge coming in at the last minute and changing our election procedures," Brnovich said in an interview on Oct. 7.

That’s why he’s appealing an Oct. 5 court ruling that pushed the deadline back to Oct. 23.

This ruling came following a suit by Mi Familia Vota and Arizona Coalition for Change, arguing that Latino communities have had lower voter registration rates due to the pandemic.

The suit was opposed by the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Gov. Doug Ducey.

Changing the deadline so close to the election will only confuse voters, Brnovich says, adding, "It is such an important issue and we don’t want to throw our elections into confusion and chaos. We want everyone out there, whether Republican, Democrat, Green Party, whatever, to go out and vote and we don’t want people to be confused."

The goal is to make the process simple for voters, he said.

On Oct. 7, judges in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency motion for an administrative stay of the court order, as filed by the Republican National Committee and the Republican Senatorial Committee.

"The panel has serious doubts regarding appellants' ability as private parties to seek a stay in this appeal, including an administrative stay," read a portion of the ruling.

FOX 10 Voter Guide: 2020 Arizona General Election

"We want to resolve this issue. We want to make sure that people are safe and secure and they know what the rules are when they go in to cast their ballots on Election Day or if they are voting by mail," Brnovich said.

Brnovich says he plans on setting up a meeting with voting recorders to discuss the issue.

People can register to vote through the state’s ServiceArizona.com website or through the office of each county recorder.

You can check your voter registration status here.