Nearly 100,000 people in Arizona have been left uncertain about the future of their right to vote after a clerical error was made in the tracking of citizenship data.
Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced on Tuesday that 97,000 people would be affected by the error, which occurred due to a clash between proof of citizenship laws and driver’s license information.
The error will not restrict voters from voting the 2024 presidential election, or for federal elections to Congress. It applies solely to state-level elections, such as state senator races or state referendums.
Arizona requires voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in state and local elections since 2005, meaning voters that have not provided the proof are registered as “federal only” voters and are only allowed to vote for president and Congress.
Arizona considers a driver’s license issued since October 1996 to be valid proof of citizenship, however, a clerical error resulted in more than 97,500 voters who obtained licenses before 1996, which is roughly 2.5 percent of all registered voters in the state, as full-ballot voters.
Fontes has since said that the technical issue that caused the error, which was first flagged by an official in Maricopa County, has been resolved. However, the voting status of the people affected by the error remains unclear.
A ballot drop box under video surveillance at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center ahead of the 2024 Arizona Primary and General elections in Phoenix on June 3, 2024.
Getty Images
The Arizona Republican Party, which has said that the majority of people affected by the error are registered Republican voters, has filed an amicus brief in the Arizona Supreme Court, claiming that the removal of these voters from the register so close to an election is a breach of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and therefore unconstitutional.
In a statement given to Newsweek by the Arizona Republican Party, state party Chair Gina Swoboda said: “Nearly 100,000 Arizona voters should not be penalized for a mistake made by the government. We will not stand by as voters are disenfranchised, especially so close to an election.
“The law requires that any changes to voter registration or eligibility must be handled carefully and in accordance with federal and state law. Rushing to disenfranchise voters now would not only be illegal but would severely undermine confidence in our elections.”
A spokesperson for the Arizona Supreme Court told Newsweek that they could not discuss or comment on matters that could come before the court.
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