Arizona Supreme Court decides nearly 100,000 voters will get full ballot access after clerical error

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that roughly 98,000 Arizonans whose voter registration status was in limbo will be able to participate in the full ballot in November.

The uncertainty regarding the voters’ fate came after the Maricopa County Recorder’s office discovered a clerical error from 2004 that granted the nearly 100,000 Arizonans voting registration status despite not providing documented proof of citizenship. 

“Today marks a significant victory for those whose fundamental right to vote was under scrutiny,” said Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, in a statement. “We deeply appreciate the Arizona Supreme Court for their prompt and just resolution,” Fontes added. 

The clerical snafu was first discovered earlier this month by the Maricopa County recorder’s office. In 2005, Arizona state law required documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The state considers driver’s licenses that were issued after October of 1996 to be documentary proof of citizenship.

But residents who received licenses prior to 1996 and who later received replacement IDs were automatically deemed to have “had documented proof of citizenship on file with the MVD” when none had actually been provided. As a result of tightened regulations imposed in 2004, those voters had never been asked to comply with the stricter rules, leaving the voting status of 97,928 Arizonans in limbo. 

“We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests. Doing so is not authorized by state law and would violate principles of due process,” wrote Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer in the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision. 

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed the lawsuit Tuesday and worked with Fontes to resolve the issue.

“Thank God,” posted Richer on X to the court’s decision on Friday evening. “Thank you Arizona Supreme Court for your extremely quick and professional review of this matter,’ Richer added. 

With just a few weeks before early voting kicks off in Arizona, Fontes’ office argued the 98,000 voters should be able to vote on the full ballots, casting their votes at both the federal and local levels. Richer’s office argued these voters could only participate at the federal level.

Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda joined them in applauding the court’s decision. In an interview with NBC News on Friday night, Swoboda said, “I could not be happier with this result."

"We’re very grateful to the state Supreme Court for protecting the voices of almost 98,000 voters who were in danger of being disenfranchised in this election,” she added. 

Swoboda has been critical of Arizona’s voting processes since taking office earlier this year, frequently calling for more public oversight of voter rolls.

But in this particular case, with early voting in Arizona kicking off next month, she finds herself aligned with an unusual bipartisan coalition of election officials. 

“I just could not have agreed more with the secretary,” said Swoboda. “I think that, in and of itself, speaks to all of us recognizing that the weight and the responsibility of making sure that the franchise is provided to all voters outweighs any particular political interest,” she added. 

Early voting in Arizona kicks off on Oct. 9.