{"id":2362825,"date":"2024-11-01T14:09:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T18:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-az-must-release-info-of-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof\/"},"modified":"2024-11-01T14:10:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T18:10:40","slug":"judge-az-must-release-info-of-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-az-must-release-info-of-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge: AZ Must Release Info Of Voters Lacking Citizenship Proof"},"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\">20<\/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%2Fjudge-az-must-release-info-of-voters-lacking-citizenship-proof%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=2362825&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>A \u200cjudge\u2062 has ordered Arizona&#8217;s elections chief, Secretary\u2063 of State Adrian Fontes, to \u2064disclose the identities of 218,000 individuals on the state&#8217;s voter rolls who do\u2062 not have documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC). This ruling by Judge Scott Blaney of Maricopa County Superior Court follows a request from the \u2062Strong\u200b Communities\u2062 Foundation \u2062of Arizona, a\u2063 conservative group, highlighting the \u200bsignificant number of registered voters lacking the \u200brequired\u200b citizenship \u2062documentation. Initially, it was reported that about 98,000 voters\u200d fell into this\u200c category, but further investigation uncovered \u200dan additional \u200b120,000, bringing the total to 218,000.<\/p>\n<p>These individuals\u200c can only vote in federal elections unless they provide proper documentation.\u200b The judge criticized Fontes \u200dfor \u2062inconsistent testimony regarding the list of affected voters, and although Fontes expressed concerns about \u200bpotential harassment if the identities were released, \u2063the court found these claims to be unsubstantiated. The \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">controversy arises amid discussions<\/a> about the potential implications of these findings for voter \u200dintegrity\u2062 and election processes in Arizona, particularly as the\u200d state\u200c prepares for upcoming 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&rsquo;s elections chief must disclose the identities of 218,000 individuals on the state&rsquo;s voter rolls who lack documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC), a judge ruled on Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>Writing on behalf of Maricopa County Superior Court, Judge Scott Blaney <a href=\"https:\/\/media.aflegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/31152837\/CV2024-027778-926-10312024-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ordered<\/a> Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to comply with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-considers-reviving-border-rules-he-campaigned-on-ending-report\/\" title=\"Biden Considers Reviving Border Rules He Campaigned On Ending: Report\">open records request filed<\/a> by Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona (&ldquo;EZAZ.org&rdquo;). <\/p>\n<p>The conservative grassroots organization submitted the request last month shortly after state officials <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\">revealed<\/a> there are approximately 98,000 registered &ldquo;full-ballot&rdquo; voters who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship, which is required to participate in state and local elections. The error appears to have resulted &ldquo;from the way the Motor Vehicle Division [MVD] provides driver&rsquo;s license information to the state&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-says-he-supports-ending-filibuster-cites-abusive-use-by-democrats-during-trump-term\/\" title=\"Biden Says He Supports Ending Filibuster, Cites \u2018Abusive\u2019 Use By Democrats During Trump Term\">voter registration system<\/a>,&rdquo; according to&nbsp;<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 Arizona<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fontes said most of the affected voters are registered Republicans, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>In Arizona,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/azsos.gov\/elections\/about-elections\/elections-procedures\/vr-procedures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voters<\/a>&nbsp;registering via state registration form must show DPOC to vote in state and local races. Individuals who are unable to provide such documentation are registered as &ldquo;federal-only&rdquo; voters and can only cast ballots in federal races.<\/p>\n<p>Later that month, state officials <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/01\/oops-arizona-discovers-an-additional-120k-registered-voters-lacking-proof-of-citizenship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a> that they found an additional 120,000 registered voters lacking DPOC, bringing the total number of affected voters to 218,000. That discovery was announced after the Arizona Supreme Court had already <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\">sided<\/a> with Fontes and the Arizona GOP in granting affected registrants the ability to vote &ldquo;full ballot&rdquo; this fall.<\/p>\n<p>(Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, along with state resident Yvonne Cahill, filed an&nbsp;<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\">amicus brief<\/a>&nbsp;in the case, arguing that the high court should mandate county recorders to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fontes-gop-ask-az-high-court-let-100k-electors-vote-full-ballot\/\" title=\"Fontes, GOP Ask AZ High Court Let 100K Electors Vote &#039;Full-Ballot&#039;\">send full ballots<\/a> to all Affected Voters on the early voting list,&rdquo; but should also &ldquo;order &hellip; all ballots returned by Affected Voters [to] be segregated pending confirmation of the voter&rsquo;s citizenship&rdquo;).<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/30\/leaked-call-az-democrat-officials-feared-voter-list-error-would-validate-gop-concerns-about-illegal-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Leaked Call: AZ Democrat Officials Feared Voter List Error Would &lsquo;Validate&rsquo; GOP Concerns About &lsquo;Illegal Voting&rsquo;<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fontes&rsquo; refusal to comply with Strong Communities Foundation&rsquo;s open records request before the 2024 election prompted the group to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/04\/lawsuit-arizonas-elections-chief-is-hiding-info-on-218k-voters-lacking-proof-of-citizenship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sue<\/a> the secretary and the Arizona Department of State over the matter earlier this month. The group is <a href=\"https:\/\/aflegal.org\/victory-following-afl-lawsuit-court-orders-the-arizona-secretary-of-state-to-produce-list-of-registered-voters-who-did-not-provide-proof-of-citizenship-after-illegally-withholding-it-from-t\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">represented<\/a> by America First Legal and a law firm spearheaded by former Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright.<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/media.aflegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/31152837\/CV2024-027778-926-10312024-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thursday decision<\/a>, Blaney noted how Fontes &ldquo;provided inconsistent testimony&rdquo; regarding his initial claim in court that his office (AZSOS) only possessed the list of 98,000 registrants first reported, and not the complete list of 218,000 affected individuals. According to the judge, the Democrat secretary claimed his &ldquo;press release&rsquo;s reference to a complete list was because of hasty drafting and &lsquo;unartful&rsquo; language,&rdquo; and that his team &ldquo;was not in possession of a list and that no such list of Affected Voters existed for the additional approximately 118,000 people who may not have shown sufficient DPOC.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Secretary Fontes maintained that MVD never provided him with a list that contains any personally identifiable information of the additional 118,000 Affected Voters,&rdquo; Blaney wrote. &ldquo;However, Secretary Fontes provided inconsistent testimony on this point, initially denying that he even possessed a list of initial 98,000 voters, and then changing his testimony after returning from lunch. His testimony suggested that he lacked detailed familiarity with the AZSOS&rsquo;s efforts with regard to the issue and with regard to the records in the possession of the AZSOS related to the 218,000 individuals.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>During this week&rsquo;s court hearing, Fontes and his office&rsquo;s &ldquo;expert witness&rdquo; argued that releasing the list of 218,000 registrants in question would open these individuals up to what Blaney described as a &ldquo;risk of harassment and violence.&rdquo; As noted by the Maricopa judge, however, both parties &ldquo;failed to identify any specific threats of violence or harassment from EZAZ.org,&rdquo; noting that &ldquo;the only evidence they presented was about generalized threats of elected-related political violence, most against elected officials.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Secretary Fontes argued that providing the list of 218,000 Affected Voters would necessarily lead to violence &mdash; even sure death &mdash; of one or more Affected Voters, even if this Court specifically ordered that EZAZ.org could only distribute the list of Affected Voters to county recorders, leadership for the Arizona state legislature, and the Arizona Senate and House Elections Committee,&rdquo; Blaney wrote. &ldquo;The Secretary&rsquo;s claims were not credible and not supported by evidence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Blaney concluded that Fontes failed to establish &ldquo;by a preponderance of the evidence that production of the records would violate rights of privacy or confidentiality or would be detrimental to the best interests of the state.&rdquo; The judge subsequently ordered the secretary&rsquo;s office to release &ldquo;no later than&rdquo; noon on Monday, Nov. 4, the initial list of 98,000 affected registrants to EZAZ.org and &ldquo;any communications with county recorders that contain any datasets, compilation of information, list, or any portion of a list of Affected Voters or that otherwise contain [personally identifying information] of Affected Voters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Any information &ldquo;relied upon&rdquo; by Fontes&rsquo; office when &ldquo;drafting and issuing&rdquo; its <a href=\"https:\/\/azsos.gov\/news\/851\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oct. 3 press rel<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/azsos.gov\/news\/851\">ease<\/a> about the nearly 120,000 additional registrants lacking DPOC must also be provided to EZAZ.org by the Monday deadline.<\/p>\n<p>The court did, however, specify that prior to Wednesday, Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona &ldquo;may only distribute lists or information that includes any personally identifiable information of any Affected Voters&rdquo; to county recorders and leading members of the state legislature. Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona is further prohibited from providing the personally identifiable information of these registrants to third parties and &ldquo;knowingly&rdquo; contacting these individuals prior to Wednesday, Nov. 6.<\/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>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arizona&#8217;s elections chief must reveal identities of 218,000 voters lacking proof of citizenship, per a judge&#8217;s ruling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2362826,"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\/11\/Adrian-Fontes.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[4472,42361,39272,40278,42292],"class_list":["post-2362825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-arizona","tag-citizenshipproof","tag-civicengagement","tag-electionintegrity","tag-votereligibility"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Adrian-Fontes.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362825","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2362826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}