Fontes sued for access to 218,000 voter records without proof of citizenship
(The Center Square) – An Arizona civic engagement group is suing Secretary of State Adrian Fontes for his refusal to provide the list of 218,000 voters who have been registered to vote in Arizona for decades without having provided proof of citizenship.
America First Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona against the Secretary of State’s Office on Oct. 2, stating that it was against the law for Fontes to refuse to provide a public record without a reasonable excuse.
America First Legal said that in response to the request Fontes’ office said that providing this list could cause voter intimidation or harassment of those on the list.
“However, Secretary Fontes declined the request through a letter written by his attorney,” reads an Oct. 3 America First Legal statement. “Rather than treating constituents with respect and decorum, their response was a bombastic tirade that invoked a bizarre conspiracy theory accusing EZAZ.org of secretly planning to harass the voters on the list. There is, of course, no evidence to support Secretary Fontes’s conspiracy theory, and EZAZ.org has no intention of harassing anyone.”
The error that has allowed these individuals to vote without proof of citizenship stems from a coding error on the part of the MVD. The initial issue was reported by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer on Sept. 7 at which point the error was corrected.
The error affects voters who received their driver’s licenses before Oct. 1, 1996. Before that date, individuals did not have to provide proof of residency to register to vote. They only had to swear affirmation under penalty of perjury – the status quo for the rest of the U.S.
However, if those individuals were reissued a driver’s license sometime after 2004 (when AVID began malfunctioning in this way), the system did not require the MVD to attain proof of citizenship.
This realization prompted “friendly litigation” where the Arizona Supreme Court determined that those in question would be able to vote a full ballot instead of federal only – which Arizonans are allowed to do without proof of citizenship as swearing under oath is all that is required for the rest of the country.
“Let’s be clear, Prop 200 is an extreme law that attempts to solve a problem that is vanishingly rare,” Fontes said in a Sept. 30 statement. “The reality is these registrants have met the same legal standard as every other American who registers to vote: swearing under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens. We can’t risk denying actual citizens the right to vote due to an error out of their control. This issue is another example of why we need to fund elections, update systems and staff, and carry forward our proven tradition of safe, fair and secure elections.”
However, America First Legal stands firm that the list of these voters should be made public to provide transparency.
“There have been major failures in the administration of just about every general election in Arizona from 2016 until now,” said James Rogers, AFL senior counselor. “It’s no wonder that Arizonans’ trust in their electoral system is at an all-time low. But how can Arizonans trust their elections when the person in charge of administering them is so fervently opposed to basic transparency? That is not what Arizonans expect from their elected leaders.”
However, a statement from the Secretary of State’s Deputy Communications Director JP Martin states that Fontes has a commitment to “the protection of lawful voters’ rights.”
“It would be irresponsible and unjust to challenge these voters’ rights based on unconfirmed preliminary assessments,” Martin said. “We are methodically refining the list, and comprehensive, verified information will be provided to the county recorders after the election. This ensures our actions are grounded in accuracy and justice.”
The lawsuit has been filed and the status of the litigation is pending.
