218,000 voter registrations jeopardized in Maricopa County—what went wrong and how is it being fixed?
At a Glance
- The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office restored the status of 98,000 voters affected by a glitch.
- The issue stemmed from incomplete MVD data, which affected 218,000 voters.
- State Supreme Court demands transparency amid citizenship proof controversies.
- Secretary of State’s inconsistent testimony and a lawsuit questioning photo proof accuracy add complexity.
Data Glitch in AZ Voter Rolls
Maricopa County was facing a conundrum recently following voter registration being compromised for roughly 218,000 voters in Arizona due to a data glitch. Eventually, the problem was traced to incomplete data from the state Motor Vehicle Division, which came from the office of the Secretary of State. The county Recorder’s Office quickly acted, though, rectifying the situation for about 98,000 voters, which allowed them to be eligible to vote in this week’s elections.
Because of the glitch, individuals were initially flagged and had to provide proof that they were citizens. About 2,000 of the affected people received direct notification about the status, but they were among those who had their original status restored. The situation has sparked more concerns and debate about voter integrity during an extremely crucial election cycle.
Tension Rises Over Legal Complexities
The state Supreme Court demanded that Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s secretary of state, divulge all non-citizens who were on voter rolls. This ruling followed an AFL lawsuit that the organization filed on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona as well as one registered voter. In the suit, it claimed that there were more than 35,000 Arizona voters who didn’t have a verified citizenship status.
During the court proceeding, the testimony that Fontes gave was called into question. He initially said that he didn’t have possession of this list, but later amended that claim, which brought many questions into the public eye about the handling of important files. His amended response lined up with the directive from the court for more voter transparency, which pressed the county to further examine voter data integrity thoroughly.
As court documents stated:
“(Fonte’s) testimony suggested that he lacked detailed familiarity with the AZSOS’ efforts with regard to the issue and with regard to the records in the possession of the AZSOS related to the 218,000 individuals.”
The Repercussions
The repercussions of the mishap extend far beyond just administrative issues. They extend much further, to whether there is electoral fairness in Arizona. Those voters who were affected span the entire political spectrum — with an equitable distribution of Democrats, Republicans and even Independents.
Arizona is one state that requires voters to prove citizenship for all local and state elections by using documents such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses .But, a coding error that was dated before October of 1996 relaxes these requirements inadvertently for years.
Luckily, the glitch was fixed in time to allow all of these people to still vote in this week’s election. Still, state election officials are prepared to have to contact many voters after the election to confirm their status.