Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott A. Blaney ruled Thursday that Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes must release the list of 218,000 voters who’s citizenship status was not verified due to a coding glitch in the state’s record keeping system.
The judge ordered the Secretary of State to provide the list to Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, also known as EZAZ.org, which is the conservative watchdog organization which filed a public records lawsuit to access the data, according to The Epoch Times on Friday.
Judge Orders Arizona to Release List of Registered Voters With Unverified Citizenship https://t.co/fhIL6yUFxv via @epochtimes
— FirstCount (@SalvatoBert) November 1, 2024
While the ruling ordered the release to Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, it was America First Legal which sued the Secretary of State for the list.
“America First Legal (AFL) announced their lawsuit against Fontes and the secretary of state’s office on Oct. 3, requesting the names of an estimated 218,000 people who registered to vote but did not comply with the swing state’s law of providing proof of citizenship. The law group’s senior counsel, James Rogers, called out Fontes for not ‘immediately’ sharing the list of individuals and stated the actions taken were about ‘restoring transparency’, according to a press release by AFL,” Daily Caller said Friday.
Arizona caught Cheating & Exposed – Court Orders Arizona To Release List Of Over 200,000 Registered Voters Who Did Not Provide Proof Of Citizenship https://t.co/ZUUX3bHVHJ via @dailycaller
— Tom Corley (@RICHHABITS) November 1, 2024
The computer glitch has been around for a ‘long time’ and allowed voters to register without a check of citizenship status.
“In September, Fontes revealed that a ‘longtime computer glitch’ allowed an estimated 218,000 individuals to register; however, he refused to release the names when requested by the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, also known as ‘EZAZ.org,’ according to the press release,” The Daily Caller said Friday.
Due to this computer glitch, affected voters got marked as having provided citizenship documents. The glitch stemmed from a flaw in the data systems managed by Arizona’s Motor Vehicles Division (MVD) and the Secretary of State’s office, according to The Epoch Times on Friday.
Senior council to AFL said that the majority of people in Arizona no longer trust voter integrity.
“A majority of Arizonans no longer trust the election system of our state. One of the reasons is the lack of transparency from our state’s elected officials. When Secretary Fontes discovered the glitch that allowed 218,000 individuals to register without providing proof of citizenship, he should have immediately shared the list of affected individuals with Arizona’s county recorders, who are in charge of verifying the citizenship of voters,” Rogers said, according to The Daily Caller on Friday.
The glitch affected voters across both parties, with 79,000 Republicans affected and 61,000 Democrats affected as well as 76,000 individuals affiliated with other parties, according to The Epoch Times on Friday.
“The order reflects Arizona’s ongoing efforts to manage the voter eligibility requirements introduced by Proposition 200, a law passed in 2004 that mandates proof of citizenship for voters participating in state and local elections,” The Epoch Times said Friday. “The judge ordered Fontes to release the list to EZAZ.org by Nov. 4, although he imposed restrictions on the handling of the information. The watchdog group is barred from contacting any of the individuals on the list until Nov. 6, or from distributing any personally identifiable information about them to third parties, with limited exceptions for Arizona county recorders, the Legislature’s leadership, and members of the House and Senate Elections Committees.”