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.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes will hold a press conference on Nov. 4 around 3 p.m. regarding the release of the records. He’ll explain how this impacts voters.

The Arizona Supreme Court ordered Fontes to release the information after a conservative group sued. 

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.