{"id":2351856,"date":"2024-10-07T20:21:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T00:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-poised-to-allow-218000-with-unconfirmed-citizenship-to-vote-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-07T20:31:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T00:31:46","slug":"arizona-poised-to-allow-218000-with-unconfirmed-citizenship-to-vote-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-poised-to-allow-218000-with-unconfirmed-citizenship-to-vote-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona poised to allow 218,000 with unconfirmed citizenship to vote &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/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%2Farizona-poised-to-allow-218000-with-unconfirmed-citizenship-to-vote-washington-examiner%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=2351856&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>In Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is poised to allow approximately 218,000 registered voters to participate \u200din the 2024 elections, even\u200d though there are unresolved questions regarding their citizenship.\u2062 This decision follows\u2063 a revelation that many voters, who \u2064received driver&#8217;s licenses before\u200b 1996, may not\u200d have provided \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-tale-of-two-universities-indiana-university-sued-for-vaccine-mandate-university-of-wisconsin-declines-mandate\/\" title=\"A Tale Of Two Universities: Indiana University Sued For Vaccine Mandate, University Of Wisconsin Declines Mandate\">documented proof<\/a> of citizenship to\u2062 the state Department of Transportation. Despite \u200cthese concerns, Fontes maintains that the law and court precedents support these voters&#8217;\u200b right\u200c to \u2063participate in elections.<\/p>\n<p>The situation has attracted scrutiny from conservative \u2063groups,\u2062 including America First Legal, \u200bwhich has filed for access to the\u2063 list of these\u2064 voters. A Republican \u2064lawmaker\u200d has\u2064 also \u200cdemanded \u2064such information, but Fontes has resisted, \u2062leading\u2063 to an\u2064 Arizona court case set for October 15 regarding the\u200d list. Fontes asserts that all registrants affirmed their citizenship under penalty of perjury when registering, although\u2063 the\u200d state\u200c lacks the required documentation.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona Republican Party \u2062Chairwoman \u2064Gina Swoboda expressed concerns about \u200bthe potential impact on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brutal-marjorie-taylor-greene-destroys-nasty-ga-election-official-gabe-sterling-after-his-latest-attack-on-president-trump-and-herself\/\" title=\"BRUTAL! Marjorie Taylor Greene DESTROYS Nasty GA Election Official Gabe Sterling After His Latest Attack on President Trump and Herself\">voter confidence<\/a> \u200cand turnout, emphasizing the need\u2064 for \u200bcareful\u200d management of the situation. \u2062The \u200cArizona Supreme Court has\u2062 ruled that the affected voters must be allowed to vote on a\u2063 full ballot in \u2064November,\u200d a directive \u200dthat remains in effect despite \u2064the increasing number of\u200d registrants under scrutiny. The state is actively working to verify the citizenship\u2063 of these individuals, as it is illegal for non-citizens\u200d to vote. The discovery of\u200b the issue emerged after an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-top-wisconsin-election-official-found-guilty-for-obtaining-fake-absentee-ballots\/\" title=\"Ex-Wisconsin election leader convicted for acquiring counterfeit mail-in ballots\">election official found<\/a> a\u200d non-citizen among the voters, highlighting ongoing\u2062 electoral integrity challenges in the state.  <\/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<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Arizona poised to allow 218,000 with unconfirmed citizenship to vote<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1776767\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/arizona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Arizona<\/a> Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is moving forward with allowing about 218,000 registered voters to participate in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 election<\/a> despite lingering questions about their citizenship.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The conservative group America First Legal sued to receive a list of the voters by Monday, while a Republican state lawmaker demanded the list in a letter. Fontes, an elected Democrat, resisted those calls, and now an Arizona court will hear arguments over Fontes&rsquo;s decision to withhold the list on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation that hundreds of thousands of registered voters were not properly documented in a key border and battleground state came about after election officials initially discovered that 98,000 Arizonans who had received driver&rsquo;s licenses before the fall of 1996 were registered to vote but may not have provided the state Department of Transportation with their citizenship status. Election officials use the transportation records to cross-check their voter rolls.<\/p>\n<p>Fontes then <a href=\"https:\/\/azsos.gov\/news\/849\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a> last week that the number had at least doubled, calling the discovery an &ldquo;evolving situation&rdquo; but emphasizing that the law and court precedent support all of the registrants being able to vote in Arizona&rsquo;s federal, state, and local elections in 2024.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FILE &ndash; Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes speaks after taking the oath of office at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fontes said all of the registrants had confirmed under penalty of perjury that they were citizens when they registered to vote but that the state Department of Transportation does not necessarily have their documented proof of citizenship, which Arizona state law requires of voters to participate in state and local elections.<\/p>\n<p>The vast majority are likely citizens, according to Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Gina Swoboda, who noted they all had been living in the state since at least the 1990s with licenses. But Swoboda worries the situation will hurt voter confidence and turnout &ldquo;if people think it&rsquo;s a big mess.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m desperately trying to make sure that anything that happens is not something that hurts confidence or hurts these voters,&rdquo; Swoboda told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>She called the situation &ldquo;delicate,&rdquo; noting that removing swathes of voters from voter rolls within 90 days of an election is a violation of the National Voter Registration Act and would be subject to a federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think this is a super delicate situation, and it&rsquo;s going to require exactly the right approach,&rdquo; Swoboda said. &ldquo;What are you going to do? You can&rsquo;t deprive these people of your ballot. You just can&rsquo;t. It&rsquo;s the 14th Amendment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>State officials are working rapidly to correct the glitch and verify citizenship, Fontes said in an update on Thursday. He noted the Arizona Supreme Court also recently ruled that the 98,000 must be allowed to vote on a full ballot in November and that the decision would continue to apply even though the number of registrants in question is larger now.<\/p>\n<p>It is illegal for noncitizens to vote, and while Fontes and Swoboda are both projecting confidence that nearly all of the 218,000 registrants are citizens, the problem was initially uncovered because an election official in Maricopa County discovered one of them was a noncitizen, according to court papers.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden won Maricopa, a populous, purple county, by about a 2% margin, or 45,000 votes, in 2020. The county faced several lawsuits at the time, alleging problems with the ink used on ballots, signature verification on ballots, how votes were tabulated, and other concerns. All the lawsuits were eventually tossed out.<\/p>\n<p>Now, in the lead-up to what is expected to be another hotly contested race, Maricopa County is at the center of controversy, though the voter registrants in question are located not just in Maricopa but across the state.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona state Republican Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who criticized Fontes for the discrepancy and demanded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-democrats-h-r-1-is-a-power-grab-would-undermine-states-election-rules\/\" title=\"Republicans: Democrats\u2019 H.R. 1 Is a Power Grab, Would Undermine States\u2019 Election Rules\">voter registration list<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/realAlexKolodin\/status\/1841160210469306556\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shared<\/a> on X Fontes&rsquo;s response in which the secretary of state refused to disclose the list.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Nothing to see here!&rdquo; Kolodin said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>America First Legal attorneys said their demand for the list was intended to build confidence in Arizona&rsquo;s election process and noted that statewide voter registration lists are required to be publicly accessible.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This lawsuit seeks to restore public trust in our State&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reports-president-trump-is-traveling-to-gettysburg-to-meet-with-gop-lawmakers\/\" title=\"Reports: President Trump Is Traveling to Gettysburg to Meet with GOP Lawmakers\">electoral system<\/a> by ensuring transparency about the Defendants&rsquo; failures to ensure that registered voters have provided [documented proof of citizenship], as required by law,&rdquo; the attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1776767\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1776767\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arizona set to let 218,000 voters with unclear citizenship vote<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2351858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/AP24044843507020.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4472,7161,34069,32570,32076],"class_list":["post-2351856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arizona","tag-citizenship","tag-election-news","tag-voting-rights","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/AP24044843507020.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351856","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\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2351856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2351858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2351856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2351856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2351856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}