Arizona court allows nearly 98K without citizenship confirmation to vote over decades-old gov't error

The Arizona Supreme Court unanimously decided to allow residents who were allowed to vote based on a decades-old government error to vote in the November election despite not confirming their citizenship status.

'They have NOT provided documented proof of citizenship.'

The court said it wanted to avoid disenfranchising a large number of voters who have citizenship but did not certify it because of the government error.

As previously reported by Blaze News, the complicated election laws in Arizona set up the conditions whereby voters who had not certified their citizenship were assumed to be citizens based on their having a driver's license before 1996 and receiving a replacement license after 2004.

"All of these people have attested under penalty of law that they are U.S. citizens. And, in all likelihood, they almost all [are] U.S. Citizens," said Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, in a lengthy statement on X Tuesday. "But they have NOT provided documented proof of citizenship."

Richer opined that those voters should not be allowed to vote in the local elections unless they confirmed their citizenship status as per state law but said that Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes disagreed. The two asked the state supreme court to decide the issue.

"AZ Supreme Court ruled for defendant (Fontes). The 100k registrants will continue to vote a full ballot this election. Thank God," Richer responded.

"Thank you Arizona Supreme Court for your extremely quick and professional review of this matter," he added before thanking Fontes.

"Good to work with you on this one. Thank you," Fontes responded.

Fontes had said that the affected voters leaned Republican and were likely between the ages of 45 and 65 years old.

If the court had sided with Richer, the voters in question would have been allowed to vote only in the federal elections unless they took additional steps before November to certify their citizenship to vote in state and local elections in Arizona.

The Arizona Republican Party praised the ruling to keep the voters from being disenfranchised.

"We're very grateful to the state Supreme Court for protecting the voices of almost 98,000 voters who were in danger of being disenfranchised in this election," said Gina Swoboda, the state party chair in a statement on social media.

"I think that, in and of itself, speaks to all of us recognizing that the weight and the responsibility of making sure that the franchise is provided to all voters outweighs any particular political interest."

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