In a significant legal development, the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County decreed on Thursday that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had unlawfully withheld a list of over 218,000 registered voters who failed to provide proof of citizenship during their voter registration process.
According to The Post Millennial, the court order mandates that Fontes must release the list to the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, the nonprofit organization that initiated the lawsuit. The list, referred to as "the original list of approximately 98,000 Affected Voters as specifically identified in Richer v Fontes," is due for release by Monday, one day prior to the election. The court order also requires Fontes to disclose "any other datasets, compilation of information, lists, or communications from MVD containing personally identifying information (PII) about Affected Voters."
The lawsuit against Fontes was filed in early October by America First Legal on behalf of Strong Communities. The suit was triggered by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's identification of a system flaw in September, which permitted individuals to register without providing proof of citizenship. Richer subsequently filed an Emergency Petition in the Arizona Supreme Court.
In the course of the lawsuit, Fontes "confirmed that he had identified 97,928 registered voters who had been incorrectly marked because of the system flaw as having provided documentary proof of citizenship, even though they had never done so," as stated in a press release from America First Legal.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that these voters should not be transferred to the federal-only list, but should be allowed to continue their registration for state and local elections. Despite a public records request filed by AFL on behalf of Strong Communities to obtain the list, Fontes declined.
Fontes disclosed on September 30 that an additional 120,000 individuals who did not provide proof of citizenship had been identified. This unfolding story continues to develop, with potential implications for the integrity of the electoral process.
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