Information of 218K voters impacted by registration error to be released by Arizona Secretary of State

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - The Arizona Secretary of State's Office will comply with a court order and release specific voter records for 218,000 people impacted by a registration error.

The release comes as the Arizona Court of Appeals ordered Fontes to release the information after conservative group, America First Legal, sued. The group is run by Stephen Miller, a onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump.

Fontes’ office had initially denied a public records requests for the list of voters that was filed by America First Legal. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled that the court received no credible evidence showing the information would be misused or encourage violence or harassment against the voters whose citizenship hasn’t been verified.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes held a press conference on Nov. 4 about the release of the records, explaining how this impacts voters.

During the press conference, Fontes said county recorders in Arizona will be contacted by the SoS, then they'll contact the people on the list so that they can gather the right documents to get them compliant with the law to vote in the future.

Voters are asked not to contact their recorder's office for now because of how busy offices are during the election.

"If you're on the list, you can vote," Fontes said. "You can vote a full ballot."

He says you do not need to provide additional ID to vote in this 2024 election – to anyone.

"Every single person on that list has sworn, under penalty of perjury, that they are a U.S. citizen. And eligible to vote. They've done the exact same thing that every other American citizen in the United States of America has done. But because here in Arizona, we have that extra thing that needs to be done, that extra documented proof of citizenship that is not required anywhere else in the country. Now we find ourselves in this quagmire. We have a motor vehicle division that appears to not have been complying with the law for almost 20 years. We have a United States Supreme Court decision that has confused and confounded administrators of these laws right before an election. Thankfully, we have an Arizona Supreme Court that has indicated very, very clearly that every single one of these voters is eligible to vote and eligible to vote in every single election," Fontes said.

Fontes initially said he'd release the list after the election to avoid voter intimidation.

"I’ll tell you exactly what I think these folks are planning. I think they are planning on going after voters that they politically disagree with. I think they're planning on knocking on their doors and trying to intimidate them out of voting. I mean these folks, these folks are shameless in their legal efforts. They believe that their right to investigate and harass voters is more important than their right to actually cast a ballot," Fontes said.

Checking to see if you're on the list

So, who will records be handed over to?

"This list has been turned over to the plaintiffs in the matter. That was before the courts, and they are allowed to give it to the counties and to state legislative representatives," Fontes explained.

By releasing the records, it's understandable concern may come with that, and Fontes apologized for it.

"I again want to apologize to some of those voters out there who are feeling a little bit uneasy about some of these folks having your name and personal identifying information. I tried to stop this. Now, let me reassure folks, however, that you will be able to check to see whether or not your name is on this list," he said.

You can click here to see if your information was released.

Decade-old error causes election hiccup

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office said in September that it discovered about 218,000 voters who were able to register to vote without providing documented proof of citizenship since 2004.

"This flaw has existed since 2004. In every county across the state," Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer previously said.

Since 2004, Arizona has required a voter to provide documented proof of citizenship. So, if a driver with an older license registers to vote, the MVD thinks they have proof of citizenship in the system and allows them to vote a full ballot.

At the time the error was announced, Richer said the majority of the affected voters are most likely U.S. citizens: they just don't have documented proof.

The largest group of them are Republicans, followed by independents and Democrats. Most of the people affected are between the ages of 45 and 60, and over 60% of them are in Maricopa County.

The Arizona State Supreme Court ruled that Arizona voters affected by a registration system error can vote on the full ballot in the upcoming general election.