In a stunning revelation, Arizona officials disclosed that nearly 100,000 voters were registered with full voting privileges despite never providing proof of U.S. citizenship. This error, discovered as the state faces a lawsuit for failing to clean up its voter rolls, has sparked outrage among conservative groups and raised serious concerns about the integrity of the upcoming elections, as reported by Just The News.

According to Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a mistake in the state’s system labeled approximately 97,000 voters as having provided proof of citizenship.

This error, which dates back 20 years, stems from a glitch in the state’s Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) database. Voters who obtained driver’s licenses before October 1996 and received duplicates after 2004 were incorrectly listed as eligible for both state and federal elections. One of these voters, a green card holder, had full voting privileges despite never being a U.S. citizen.

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This oversight was discovered by a Maricopa County worker who stumbled upon a non-citizen registered as a voter. Although the individual had never cast a ballot, the discovery has thrown the state’s voter registration process into chaos just weeks before ballots are set to be sent out to military and overseas voters.

Fontes downplayed the issue, saying it spanned four administrations and was not malicious. However, many in the conservative movement are not buying it. Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder, immediately filed a lawsuit against Fontes, seeking clarification on how to proceed. Richer believes that these voters should be allowed only to cast federal ballots unless they provide documented proof of citizenship.

Later today, my office (@RecordersOffice) is suing the Secretary's office (@AZSecretary) regarding how to handle certain voters who need to provide documented proof of citizenship.

Since 2004, Arizona has been the only state in the country to require that a voter provide…

— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) September 17, 2024

Arizona’s bifurcated election system permits residents who have not proven citizenship to vote in federal races but not state or local elections. However, this glitch has left nearly 100,000 voters improperly registered for both.

Former Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright emphasized that the law is clear: non-citizens should not be on the voter rolls at all. She suggested using the Department of Homeland Security’s database to verify citizenship status.

America First Legal, a conservative advocacy group, filed an amended lawsuit weeks earlier against all 15 Arizona counties, accusing them of failing to remove non-citizens from voter rolls. AFL Senior Counsel James Rogers said this situation validates their concerns, as Fontes admitted that nearly 100,000 people were wrongly registered without proof of citizenship.

As the November 2024 General Election approaches, this error adds to a growing list of concerns about election integrity in Arizona. Richer, Fontes, and Governor Katie Hobbs must now navigate this thorny issue while under the watchful eyes of voters and advocacy groups alike.