Arizona Judge Orders Release of 218,000 Voter Names Without Proof of Citizenship Before Election

Oct 31, 2024, 10:00 PM

An Arizona judge has ordered Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to release the names of more than 218,000 registered voters who did not provide proof of citizenship, including approximately 98,000 who were mistakenly marked as having done so due to a decades-old data error in the state's Motor Vehicle Division system. The ruling, issued by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney, came after America First Legal sued for access to the list, arguing that the state's failure to properly maintain citizenship verification records violated election laws. The judge rejected Fontes' concerns that releasing the information could lead to harassment or harm, emphasizing that "this is a public records case." The court also awarded attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs and mandated that the complete list be produced by Monday, ahead of Election Day. The list may be shared with counties and some legislators to address the issue of non-citizen voters registered prior to 1996.