Maricopa County Reinstates 2,000 Voters After Citizenship Proof Blunder

Maricopa County officials confirmed this week that around 2,000 long-registered voters were incorrectly flagged as needing to provide proof of citizenship to vote in Tuesday’s election. This issue adds to nearly 900 Pinal County voters who faced the same erroneous requirement, as reported by Votebeat.

The affected voters will no longer need to present proof of citizenship before 7 p.m. Tuesday. Previous advisories that suggested otherwise have been retracted. Voters who had their early ballots placed on hold or voided due to this mix-up will now have those ballots counted. For those who have not yet voted, officials assured there would be no issues at polling places.

This means that voters in these counties will play a crucial role in this tightly contested swing state, influencing outcomes not just for the presidential race but also for various statewide propositions.

According to Taylor Kinnerup, spokesperson for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, the county had mistakenly altered the status of these voters to “not registered.” This reclassification led to their removal from the active voter rolls and resulted in initial voiding of some early ballots. However, Kinnerup stated that the county has since restored these ballots to ensure all votes are counted.

As of October 21, the statuses of the affected voters were reinstated. Kinnerup did not comment on the reasoning behind the initial errors. The situation came to light after Votebeat’s inquiry into potential voting issues in response to the problems identified in Pinal County.

Currently, it remains unclear if other Arizona counties have also erroneously flagged voter registrations. Counties such as Pima, Yavapai, and Coconino have reported no similar problems in their voter systems.

These complications stem from recent court decisions regarding Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirements. Arizona law mandates proof of citizenship to participate in state and local elections, whereas federal law allows individuals to simply attest to their citizenship.

A key U.S. Supreme Court decision on August 22 stipulated that county recorders must reject voter registration forms from individuals who use state forms without supplying requisite citizenship proof. This remains in effect pending further judicial review. Additionally, an Arizona Supreme Court ruling on September 20 noted that approximately 218,000 longtime driver’s license holders would not need to present proof of citizenship to vote in the upcoming election.

After addressing an issue with the Motor Vehicle Division database, the state warned counties to flag these 218,000 voters if they attempted to amend their voter records while lacking proof of citizenship. Despite this flagging, the Secretary of State’s Office had advised that these individuals should be allowed to vote a full ballot until after the November election.

Unfortunately, between the system’s adjustments and the October 7 voter registration deadline, Maricopa and Pinal counties flagged registrations of voters from the 218,000 list incorrectly, resulting in the problematic letters that advised the need for proof before voting.

After reevaluation, Kinnerup confirmed that previously registered voters would have their statuses returned to normal, allowing them to participate fully in Tuesday’s election. This restoration aims to rectify the initial mismanagement and ensure all legitimate voters can exercise their rights.