{"id":2347682,"date":"2024-09-30T15:37:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T19:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/az-officials-afraid-error-would-validate-election-integrity-concerns\/"},"modified":"2024-09-30T15:39:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T19:39:14","slug":"az-officials-afraid-error-would-validate-election-integrity-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/az-officials-afraid-error-would-validate-election-integrity-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"AZ Officials Afraid Error Would &#8216;Validate&#8217; Election Integrity Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Faz-officials-afraid-error-would-validate-election-integrity-concerns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2347682&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Arizona \u2062election officials are facing\u200c significant concerns regarding the integrity of voter registrations,\u200d as it was discovered that nearly \u200b100,000 voters were improperly classified on the voter rolls. These \u200bvoters did\u2062 not provide \u2064the required documentary proof of citizenship to vote in statewide elections, instead \u2062being registered as &#8220;federal-only&#8221; voters, which allows them to vote only in federal\u200d races. This issue came to light \u200cafter a noncitizen was identified as a\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nearly-100000-voters-registered-without-proof-of-citizenship-as-flaw-could-impact-upcoming-elections\/\" title=\"Nearly 100,000 Voters Registered Without Proof of Citizenship as &#039;Flaw&#039; Could Impact Upcoming Elections\">full-ballot voter<\/a>, prompting\u2063 a deeper investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Katie Hobbs, along with Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris\u2063 Mayes, participated\u200b in a\u200c call discussing\u200b the implications of this discovery. They expressed worries that the situation could validate\u200b unfounded \u200bconspiracy \u200btheories\u200d regarding illegal voting, despite \u2063the lack of evidence supporting any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-reacts-to-murdochs-stepping-down-as-fox-news-corp-head\/\" title=\"Trump responds to Murdoch&#039;s resignation as Fox, News Corp chief.\">widespread voter \u200bfraud<\/a>. The exact number\u200b of \u2063potential noncitizens among \u2063the flagged voters remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, \u2063including members\u2064 of the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, argue that\u200c the state&#8217;s\u200c failure to properly maintain voter rolls contravenes \u200clegal obligations. They called for\u200b urgent \u2062action to review and rectify the voter\u2063 list, which\u2064 could have prevented\u200c the current predicament. In response to the \u2063legal challenges, the \u200bArizona Supreme Court ruled that the 97,000 \u2063voters\u2062 would maintain their status \u2062as full-ballot\u200b voters for \u2063the upcoming\u200b election, stressing the importance of \u200cdue process \u200band the need to avoid disenfranchisement.<\/p>\n<p>The situation has\u200d raised fears of potential \u2063challenges \u200cto previous elections, with concerns that it could\u2063 spark calls \u200cfor re-evaluating the\u200d outcomes of the \u200d2020 and 2022 elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Arizona election officials privately worried that having nearly 100,000 voters on the wrong voter list would &ldquo;validate&rdquo; concerns about the integrity of the state&rsquo;s elections. <\/p>\n<p>Arizona requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship in order to vote in statewide elections. Voters who do not provide such proof are registered as &ldquo;federal-only&rdquo; voters, meaning they can only cast a ballot in federal races. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer recently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/18\/arizona-finds-100000-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof-on-wrong-list-after-catching-noncitizen-on-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">discovered<\/a> what Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs <a href=\"https:\/\/azgovernor.gov\/office-arizona-governor\/news\/2024\/09\/governor-katie-hobbs-statement-administrative-issue-avid-and\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> as an &ldquo;erroneous voter registration record.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The record was that of a noncitizen who was on the voter roll as a full-ballot voter, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/arizona\/2024\/09\/17\/citizenship-proof-records-error-federal-only-voter-registration-eligibility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VoteBeat<\/a>. While this noncitizen had a green card, all noncitizens are legally prohibited from voting in federal elections. Upon further inquiry, the state claims to have found approximately 97,000 voters who are listed as full-ballot voters despite having never provided the documentary proof of citizenship required to vote in statewide elections. <\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/09\/28\/arizona-noncitizens-hobbs-fontes-mayes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">obtained audio<\/a> from a 40-minute Sept. 10 phone call between Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and Attorney General Kris Mayes. During the call, Hobbs reportedly warned that the situation was &ldquo;dire&rdquo; and &ldquo;urgent&rdquo; while Fontes worried they would be &ldquo;beat&rdquo; up &ldquo;no matter what the hell we do.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When this goes public, it is going to have all of the conspiracy theorists in the globe &mdash; in the world &mdash; coming back to re-litigate the past three elections, at least in Arizona,&rdquo; Hobbs reportedly said. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s going to validate all of their theories about illegal voting in our elections, even though we all know that&rsquo;s not true.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But how does Hobbs know that these &ldquo;theories&rdquo; are &ldquo;not true&rdquo;?<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear how many of the 97,000 voters are noncitizens (aside from the individual flagged by Richer&rsquo;s office) and, if some of them are noncitizens, how many of these have voted over the past few years.<\/p>\n<p>Hobbs reportedly even conceded that she is &ldquo;sure that there&rsquo;s a very small percentage of those voters that are not actually eligible.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Concerns about ineligible noncitizens being on the voter rolls could have been rectified by asking the Department of Homeland Security to &ldquo;expedite&rdquo; reviewing the list of voters to see whether they are flagged, Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona Chairwoman Merissa Hamilton told <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/18\/arizona-finds-100000-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof-on-wrong-list-after-catching-noncitizen-on-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Federalist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton said that doing so would have complied with part of a recent lawsuit filed by Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and resident Yvonne Cahill that <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/04\/lawsuit-arizonas-15-counties-are-failing-to-remove-noncitizens-from-the-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alleges<\/a> Arizona&rsquo;s 15 election records have &ldquo;failed to take the actions required by law to ensure that foreign citizens are removed from their voter rolls.&rdquo; Richer <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/lawsuit-maricopa-countys-election-chief-is-unlawfully-refusing-to-undertake-proper-voter-list-maintenance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allegedly<\/a> refused to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/az-finds-100000-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof-on-wrong-list\/\" title=\"AZ Finds 100,000 Voters Lacking Citizenship Proof On Wrong List\">undertake list maintenance procedures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If Maricopa County, for example, had just complied with the letter that we sent them months ago, they would already have the infrastructure in place to resolve this issue of the 97,000 voters immediately today,&rdquo; Hamilton stated.<\/p>\n<p>Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona later <a href=\"https:\/\/acrobat.adobe.com\/id\/urn:aaid:sc:US:608e0d8f-9fed-4a11-96e4-8b3c287c7e91?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> the Arizona Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/merissahamilton\/status\/1836583202913411261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to require<\/a> county recorders to &ldquo;send full ballots to all Affected Voters on the early voting list but &hellip; order that all ballots returned by Affected Voters be segregated pending confirmation of the voter&rsquo;s citizenship.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Arizona Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/23\/az-supreme-court-affirms-100k-voters-full-ballot-status-after-registration-error\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ultimately ruled<\/a> the 97,000 voters could remain as &ldquo;full-ballot&rdquo; voters for the upcoming election. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[W]e are unwilling on these facts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/98000-arizonans-whose-citizenship-had-not-been-confirmed-can-vote-full-ballot-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"98,000 Arizonans whose citizenship had not been confirmed can vote full ballot - Washington Examiner\">disenfranchise voters en masse<\/a> from participating in state contests,&rdquo; Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer wrote. &ldquo;Doing so is not authorized by state law and would violate principles of due process.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hobbs also expressed concern that voters would want to redo the 2020 and 2022 elections after it was discovered that at least one noncitizen ended up on the voter rolls.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Can you imagine telling 67,000 Republicans they can&rsquo;t vote on the abortion initiative,&rdquo; Mayes asked, according to The Washington Post. &ldquo;I mean, Katie, I understand your point about not politicizing this, but the reality is that if we let this happen, all of these elections are challengeable. They&rsquo;re going to be calling for a new election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to be calling for new 2020 and &rsquo;22 elections as well,&rdquo; Hobbs reportedly said, adding that the state would be criticized by Republicans who will say, &ldquo;&lsquo;Told you so, all these illegals are voting.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While the state has not clarified how many additional noncitizens were found on the state&rsquo;s voter rolls &mdash; or how many, if any, have voted &mdash; Arizona is home to approximately 250,000 illegal immigrants, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tucsonsentinel.com\/local\/report\/080424_migrant_mobilization\/unable-vote-undocumented-migrants-register-arizona-voters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tucson Sentinel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The state has also seen a spike in &ldquo;federal-only&rdquo; registrations &mdash; meaning these voters are not providing proof of citizenship but are still being permitted to register to vote in federal elections.  Approximately <a href=\"https:\/\/azmirror.com\/briefs\/few-voters-use-federal-only-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,700<\/a> people voted during the 2018 midterms using a &ldquo;federal-only&rdquo; ballot. But two years later that number jumped to more than <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/voting-rights-us-supreme-court-legislature-arizona-bc2fa3b59f7b7c81d27fde7df9e1ed9b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">11,600 individuals<\/a>. President Joe Biden won the state by <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-donald-trump-arizona-phoenix-elections-9638adedbe826b31b5d172ba3a1c7c3a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10,457 votes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electionbriefing.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arizona officials feared nearly 100,000 voters on wrong lists would undermine election integrity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2347684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/52697356309_1a5fb40720_k-e1727716124237.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[42026,5241,42027,32644],"class_list":["post-2347682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-az-officials","tag-concerns","tag-election-error","tag-election-integrity"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/52697356309_1a5fb40720_k-e1727716124237.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2347682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2347684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2347682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2347682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2347682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}