Secretary of State Adrian Fontes was ordered on Thursday to turn over by Monday the voter registration information on 218,000 voters in Arizona who are registered to vote but who failed to provide proof of citizenship. He appealed the decision immediately afterwards, with two organizations submitting amicus curiae briefs supporting him, but the Arizona Court of Appeals issued an order Monday morning affirming the lower court’s decision to require the list in response to a public records request from America First Legal (AFL).
NEW–Secretary Fontes didn't want to produce the list of 218,000 and appealed to the Court of Appeals.
His appeal was just REJECTED.
He must produce the list TODAY! https://t.co/S9e3Zsl7Do pic.twitter.com/FYfMhy2Td6
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) November 4, 2024
James Rogers, America First Legal Senior Counsel, said in a statement regarding the case, “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. Instead, he has jealously guarded the list, refusing to share it with anyone.”
In the Court of Appeals’ brief order, the justices said they were accepting the case and denying Fontes’ Emergency Motion for Stay. “Petitioners have not established that the superior court committed legal or factual error,” the court said. Fontes turned over the list prior to the deadline of noon on Monday.
Fontes discovered a couple of months ago that 218,000 voters who obtained driver’s licenses in October 1996 or earlier had never provided proof of citizenship for voting due to a coding glitch. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a “friendly” lawsuit against Fontes, facetiously requesting that ballots from those voters be rejected. AFL submitted an amicus curiae brief in the lawsuit, suggesting that the ballots be counted but also providing a way for county recorders to verify the citizenship of those voters through federal databases.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in September that the voters could still cast ballots despite the lack of proof of citizenship.
AFL and local election attorney Jennifer Wright, representing The Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, also known as EZAZ, filed a public records request in September requesting the voters’ names. Fontes denied the request, claiming the voters’ information could be misused, so AFL sued Fontes.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney said in his ruling issued on October 31 that there was “no credible evidence of specific threats” to voters’ information,” ordering Fontes to turn the voters’ details over by noon on Monday. Voter registration information is a public record in Arizona, and Blaney noted, “The parties agree that the full voter registration database is a public record and can legally be used to contact registered voters and conduct voter outreach.”
He expressed skepticism regarding Fontes’ expert witness, Professor Robert Pape. “Professor Pape offered little more than speculation that a release of the requested information would lead to violence or harassment and, again, only based this opinion on national statistics. The credibility of Professor Pape’s testimony and report was further diminished by what appeared to be gratuitous political bias in his report and in his testimony.”
Blaney also found Fontes not credible. “Secretary Fontes testified it was his opinion that, if provided with a copy of the list of Affected Voters, elected members of the Arizona Legislature would undoubtedly provide the list to third party groups with the specific intent to encourage third party groups to engage in violent or harassing behavior, resulting in possible death or injury,” he said. “The Secretary’s claims were not credible and not supported by evidence.”
Blaney concluded, “Despite the political undertones, this is simply a public records case.” He limited the release of the information to county recorders, the Arizona Senate president, speaker of the Arizona House, and members of elections committees in both legislative chambers.
Blaney also required Fontes to release communications between his office and relevant agencies, including the Arizona Department of Transportation and Governor Katie Hobbs’ office. After EZAZ received the information about the 218,000 voters, the group provided it to county recorders who complied with applicable privacy requirements.
AFL filed a lawsuit in August against Maricopa County over its refusal to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. An increasing number of illegal immigrants are expected to vote for Democrats in the 2024 election.
Arizona is the only state that requires voters to prove citizenship in order to vote in state and local races. Although the state has tried to require it for federal races, the courts have struck down any legislative attempts, allowing those voters to cast federal-only ballots.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo Adrian Fontes by Gage Skidmore CC2.0.
