Senate President Warren Petersen announced on Monday morning that he received the list of 218,000 voters registered without proof of citizenship.
These 218,000 voters (an increase from the initial estimate of nearly 100,000) had obtained their driver’s licenses prior to the 1996 requirement to apply with proof of citizenship, went on to get a duplicate license, and then registered to vote for the first time or re-registered to vote after 2004. For over 20 years, they were caught up in a compatibility error between the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the state’s voter registration system.
Later in the day, Fontes announced that voters can check whether they’re one of the affected voters through my.arizona.vote.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in September that these voters caught up in the compatibility error would be allowed to vote the full ballot. America First Legal sued Fontes last month to obtain access to that list of voters.
“This morning I authorized receipt of those names,” said Petersen. “We will do everything we can to make sure our elections are run with integrity.”
Judge ruled AZSOS must release 218k names that he had refused to disclose. This morning I authorized receipt of those names. We will do everything we can to make sure our elections are run with integrity. Special thanks to @merissahamilton@America1stLegal@JenWEsq!
After Petersen announced receipt of the list, Fontes held a press conference discussing the impact of the court-ordered release.
“Let me be very clear about that: every single person on that list has sworn under penalty of perjury that they are a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote,” said Fontes. “They’ve done the exact same thing that every other citizen of the United States of America has done. But because here in Arizona we have that extra thing that needs to be done, that extra documented proof of citizenship — that is not required anywhere else in the country — we find ourselves in this quagmire.”
Fontes assured voters that they had the right to not be harassed at their homes or have others demand identification from them. Fontes said that any harassing of the 218,000 voters would be subject to prosecution.
“If anyone does do this sort of thing, please contact our office or your local law enforcement agency. Voter harassment and intimidation is a violation of the law,” said Fontes.
Fontes said that his office would be contacting the county recorders about voters on the list within the next few days and week. The secretary of state said that their office would work “later this year” to collect the appropriate documentary proof of citizenship.
Fontes discouraged the 218,000 voters on the list from contacting their local election officers presently, due to the busy nature of the ongoing election.
“You are under no obligation whatsoever to provide documented proof of citizenship if you’re on this list,” said Fontes.
Fontes said he is “not happy” with the court order, and blamed the focus on the 218,000 voters on the “lies and conspiracies” by individuals concerned with election integrity, which he characterized as “folks who mean this democracy harm.”
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The Arizona Supreme Court handed a sound defeat to Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and a victory to the America First Legal Foundation and Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, known as “EZAZ.org.” The court ruled on Thursday that Fontes’ office is ordered to immediately provide a full list of all individuals who registered to vote in the state of Arizona without providing the proof of citizenship required under the law, a total of approximately 218,000 people as previously reported by AZ Free News.
The ruling obliterated Fontes’ response to EZAZ.org’s demand for transparency, which claimed, “We fear, especially based on SCF’s filings, that its true desire here is not to keep watch on government actions — which our public records laws are designed to facilitate — but instead harass and intimidate voters in the midst of an election and whose rights Secretary Fontes has already vindicated before Arizona’s highest court.”
The court found that the testimony of Professor Robert Pape, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago who suggested with Fontes that “producing the list of 218,000 voters to EZAZ.org would expose those individuals to the risk of harassment and violence,” was “focused on political violence trends nationally and contained no analysis of such trends in Arizona.” They found further that, “Pape admitted on cross-examination that he conducted no research specific to Arizona. 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.”
Finally, the court laid the claims about potential political violence to rest writing:
“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. The Professor’s opinions regarding general political violence focused almost entirely on allegations of past and anticipated prospective violence from only one side of the political spectrum, and only related to former president Donald Trump.”
The ruling concludes, “They failed to identify any specific threats of violence or harassment from EZAZ.org, and Ms. Hamilton’s unrebutted testimony established that EZAZ.org does not condone violent or harassing behavior and carefully screens its members and volunteers to ensure that persons who do condone or participate in such behavior do not participate in the organization.”
In a statement, America First Legal described the ruling saying, “The court found that Secretary Fontes ‘provided inconsistent testimony on this point’ and that ‘[h]is testimony suggested that he lacked detailed familiarity with the AZSOS’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.’ The court’s order requires Secretary Fontes to produce the list of 98,000 individuals that he has along with any other personally identifying information that he has about the 218,000 individuals.”
James Rogers, America First Legal Senior Counsel, celebrated the ruling saying, “A majority of Arizonans no longer trust the election system of our state. One of the reasons is the lack of transparency from our state’s elected officials. 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. This suit was about restoring transparency and ensuring that county recorders can do their jobs by verifying the citizenship of voters. It is unfortunate that Secretary Fontes so aggressively opposed our common-sense efforts to help restore trust in our state’s election system.”
“This was a case we never should have needed to file,” said Rogers.
EZAZ.org’s Merrissa Hamilton wrote in a post to X, “FONTES = 0; TRANSPARENCY = WINNING! Despite AZ Secretary Adrian Fontes’ best efforts to falsely paint @AZHouseGOP@AZSenateGOP as homicidal maniacs (totally unhinged argument not remotely grounded in reality), while he’s also actively preventing Recorders from having access to do their jobs …
The Honorable Judge Blaney ruled in our favor in requiring Fontes to release to EZAZ.org the 98k voters impacted by the MVD ‘glitch’ causing voters to not have proof of citizenship on record.
Our only intent has always been to ensure the Recorders and Legislative leadership can do their jobs! And legal voters are enfranchised with confidence that their government is following the law in the operation of the elections!
Now that will happen! And the reputation of our happy, hardworking volunteers at EZAZ.org is restored!”
🥳FONTES = 0; TRANSPARENCY = WINNING!✅
Despite AZ Secretary Adrian Fontes' best efforts to falsely paint @AZHouseGOP@AZSenateGOP as homicidal maniacs (totally unhinged argument not remotely grounded in reality), while he's also actively preventing Recorders from having access… pic.twitter.com/ZlPl4JhhQi
On Thursday, America First Legal announced that the organization has launched a lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and the Secretary of State’s Office on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, also known as EZAZ.org. The foundation and America First Legal contend that by refusing to release a list of more than 218,000 individuals who illegally registered to vote without providing proof of citizenship, Fontes is violating the law.
The flaw at the center of both cases was revealed to the Arizona voters when Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer realized the flaw’s implication, that tens of thousands of people were on the voter list without proof of citizenship, and brought an Emergency Petition to the Arizona Supreme Court.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Sep. 20th that almost 98,000 Maricopa County voters whose citizenship documents got caught up in a coding error will be allowed to vote the full ballot.
According to America First Legal, in a matter of hours, AFL filed a public records request on behalf of EZAZ.org calling on Fontes to produce the list of voters he had identified as being unlawfully registered. Fontes denied the request and unleashed a bizarre accusatory response through his attorney.
AFL wrote, “Rather than treating constituents with respect and decorum, their response was a bombastic tirade that invoked a bizarre conspiracy theory accusing EZAZ.org of secretly planning to harass the voters on the list. There is, of course, no evidence to support Secretary Fontes’s conspiracy theory, and EZAZ.org has no intention of harassing anyone. Secretary Fontes also feebly claimed that compiling the list would be too hard for his staff. None of these excuses hold water. Fontes’s staff has already compiled the list–that’s how they know the number of affected voters. And there is no risk that these voters will be harassed–EZAZ.org’s mission is all about protecting voters.”
James Rogers, America First Legal Senior Counsel, explained in a statement, “There have been major failures in the administration of just about every general election in Arizona from 2016 until now. It’s no wonder that Arizonans’ trust in their electoral system is at an all-time low. And every time anyone expresses concern, how does Secretary Fontes react? Victim blaming.”
“His patronizing response is always to attack voters for caring about the integrity of their system and expecting that public officials follow the law. But how can Arizonans trust their elections when the person in charge of administering them is so fervently opposed to basic transparency? That is not what Arizonans expect from their elected leaders. The law requires Secretary Fontes to produce these records, and AFL will work to hold him accountable until he does,” said James Rogers.
“America First Legal Sues Arizona Secretary of State’s Office for Illegally Withholding List of 218,000 Registered Voters Who Have Not Provided Proof of Citizenship.” https://t.co/EVPZcBkyGw
In the text of the lawsuit, AFL argues, “By refusing public access to these records, the Defendants frustrate the core purpose of the Public Records Law, to ‘monitor the performance of the government officials.’” The suit continues, “And because these records deal with a pressing issue of immediate public concern, time is of the essence. The Defendants should be ordered to immediately fulfill Plaintiff’s public records request.”
In a letter responding to the request, cited by the New York Post, the Secretary of State’s Office said, “We fear, especially based on SCF’s filings, that its true desire here is not to keep watch on government actions — which our public records laws are designed to facilitate — but instead harass and intimidate voters in the midst of an election and whose rights Secretary Fontes has already vindicated before Arizona’s highest court.”
Stephen Miller, former Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump and America First Legal President said in a statement, “America First Legal continues to lead the fight for election integrity. We are suing the state of Arizona for refusing to provide the list of 218,000 voters who failed or refused to establish citizenship. It is absolutely imperative that we stop the dire threat of illegal alien voting, which is the gravest form of foreign election interference.”
This should be especially alarming since the number of voters who haven’t provided proof of citizenship and cannot be confirmed as citizens has increased by over 32% since last October in Maricopa County. Arizona law requires that voter registrants must provide documentary proof of citizenship. However, these federal-only voters are allowed to register to vote in federal races because a Supreme Court decision from 2013 held that federal law does not allow states to ask for documentary proof of citizenship in federal races such as for Congress and the U.S. Senate. And that may even extend for presidential electors (the issue being litigated right now). For federal races, voters only need to attest to being a citizen by checking a box on the federal voter registration form and signing the form. Only a little over 10,000 votes determined the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election in Arizona, yet over 26,000 federal-only voters are currently registered to vote in Maricopa County.
The AFL letter went to all 15 Arizona County Recorders as a reminder of their obligation “to remove foreign citizens” from their voter rolls. It outlines additional tools the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has available, as codified by Congress under 8 U.S.C. § 1373 and 8 U.S.C. § 1644, to assist county recorders in their legal obligations to ensure only U.S. citizens are registered to vote.
According to the letter, Arizona law requires recorders “to consult ‘relevant federal databases to which the county recorder has access to confirm information obtained that requires cancellation of registrations,’” per A.R.S. § 16-165(K).
While it’s a state and federal crime for foreign nationals to register to vote, just making something illegal doesn’t prevent bad actors from breaking the law like other crimes. In fact, under the Trump administration, ICE indicted 19 foreign nationals for voting in the 2016 election illegally.
Since Arizona is a border state, why wouldn’t county recorders in Arizona want to make sure they are utilizing every possible tool to prevent foreign nationals from accessing a ballot in our election? And what more can they do to protect our voting rights and ensure citizens’ votes aren’t effectively neutralized by a foreign national illegally casting a ballot?
AFL brilliantly provides a path by using federal statutes, 8 U.S.C. § 1373 and 8 U.S.C. § 1644, that require DHS to provide the information. It isn’t hard for DHS to get this information through its Person Centric Query System (PCQS) database. As the letter explains:
“[The PCQS database] allows agency employees to look up individuals and quickly and easily verify their citizenship status using only a name and date of birth. This means that, right now, DHS can answer all of your inquiries about the citizenship status of all presently registered voters and all persons attempting to register to vote and do so at no cost. You already have the authority to submit citizenship inquiries about registered voters to DHS, and you can demand immediate responses from DHS.”
There is no additional cost to the taxpayers, and we can protect the voters! Where is the “Sign My County Recorder Up” button for doing his or her job?
There’s another level of required scrutiny that’s also not happening in Arizona, and that’s where the Attorney General comes into play. AFL states that per state law, county recorders are “required to send ‘to the attorney general a list of all individuals who are registered to vote and who have not provided satisfactory evidence of citizenship’” so that the Attorney General may fulfill her obligation “to use all available resources to verify the citizenship status of the applicant[s].’”
Don’t hold your breath that this will happen under the current Maricopa County Recorder regime anytime soon! Stephen Richer’s attorneys replied to AFL’s letter, refusing to take any action.
When asked, he usually shrugs off the concern about foreign nationals on the voter rolls, arguing that federal-only voters are concentrated on college campuses, as if that somehow makes it OK. He’s even gotten to the point of challenging Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk for questioning any voter in Arizona not needing to provide proof of citizenship to vote:
BLUF: Arizona had a documented proof of citizenship law for all voters, but that was invalidated by US Supreme Court in 2012 (Arizona v. ITCA) because it conflicted with federal law. Therefore only applies to state voters.
Longer:
We've done this before a few times… But…
— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) July 8, 2024
He also says federal-only voters have lower turnout than average voters, so there is nothing to worry about….
Hi. This is the correct in terms of the fed only voters who participated in the 2020 GE in Maricopa County.
Few points looking at above:
1) It is ILLEGAL to vote in federal elections in all 50 states if you are not a U.S. Citizen. These names are public records. In Arizona,…
— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) April 16, 2024
Except the public doesn’t know how many federal-only voters cast ballots, as the number is not reported in the official statewide canvass by the Arizona Secretary of State.
While the current Maricopa County Recorder has published in his campaign communications that he thinks documented proof of citizenship should be required to vote in federal elections, adding that it’s not “an undue burden,” he stated that it’s the job of Congress to change the law.
Hi Stacey!
Great question. Yes, we do count "Fed only" ballots. As does every county in Arizona. Because it is required by federal law.
Hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Stephen
— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) June 18, 2024
This is true. That would certainly help!
In the same campaign email, he stated that he supports Speaker Johnson’s proposal, the SAVE Act, which would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote for federal elections. Still, he’s never come out on his award-winning X account to support the SAVE Act or Speaker Mike Johnson’s bold support of this game-changing legislation to secure our elections.
Here’s my friendly reminder that this is the same Recorder who was accused of using public resources to advocate against additional security measures for voting by mail. So, he’s certainly not averse to going out of bounds when fighting for or against a policy he favors.
Former President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “I have always had a horror of words that are not translated into deeds, of speech that does not result in action.”
The Maricopa County Recorder’s latest rebuff of AFL’s letter to take steps that clearly aren’t an undue burden on his office to keep the voter rolls clean, his lack of transparency on the issue of federal-only voters’ voting habits, his constant diminishing of concerns from the public, and his lack of public support for the SAVE Act certainly screams the loudest when it comes to where he truly stands on the issue.
If only there were someone who could provide a Diet Coke explainer video to show the current Recorder why Maricopa County citizens deserve election administration in which every possible effort is made to prohibit foreign nationals from accessing a ballot to cast a vote in our elections, maybe we would have a better chance at that “Sign My County Recorder Up” button functioning in Maricopa County.
Photo from the Maricopa County Recorder video published on X here.
Merissa Hamilton is the founder and chairwoman of the nonpartisan nonprofit organizations Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and Strong Communities Action, also known as EZAZ.org, which are focused on making civic education and action as easy as pie. She’s an elected Member at Large of Congressional District 1 for the Arizona Republican Party and previously ran for Mayor in 2020. Merissa is also the Director of Integration and Policy at The R.O.A.R. PAC, which is on the mission of restoring our American Republic.
Mesa Public Schools (MPS) faces a lawsuit for policies resulting in the secret transitioning of children’s genders and tracking their gender transition journeys while restricting parental knowledge or consent.
The amended lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by America First Legal (AFL) on behalf of MPS Governing Board member Rachel Walden and the mother of one alleged victim, accused MPS of unlawfully hiding policy and evidence of their transitioning of children from parents. Arizona’s Constitution and Parents’ Bill of Rights acknowledge that it is the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
The amended complaint contained new information revealing that at least one MPS school maintained a “parent concealment cheat sheet”: a spreadsheet tracking the gender journeys of over a dozen students as well as information on which of their parents were supportive or needed to be kept in the dark.
/1 🚨BREAKING – America First Legal Sues Mesa Public Schools in Amended Lawsuit, Adding Mother Whose Daughter’s Gender Was Transitioned Without Parental Knowledge or Consent, and After Obtaining New Evidence Proving Scale of Deception
MPS policy of transitioning children without parental knowledge or consent, the Transgender Support Plan (TSP), dates back to 2015, according to the lawsuit. The policy asks the children for permission to notify their parents of their gender transition: should the child decline, MPS requires its employees to keep the transition hidden from parents.
MPS has long denied the allegations that TSP occurs without parental notification. Last June, MPS Superintendent Andi Fourlis dismissed the allegations in a public letter.
According to a once-public document students were made to fill out to initiate a TSP, the Support Plan for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students, students were given the option to deny permission of disclosure of their gender transitions to their parents. MPS removed that support plan from public view following community outcry in 2022. The district then issued an updated version of the support plan with a loophole to parental disclosure: name and gender changes were to be requested through Synergy — the district’s online database — in order for parents to be notified. Should Synergy not be updated, parents would not be notified.
AFL noted that this loophole contradicted Fourlis’ claim, which ultimately resulted in the gender transition of the eighth-grade girl at the heart of AFL’s lawsuit, Megan Doe, to a male by school staff without the knowledge or consent of Doe’s mother, Jane.
“[S]chool employees encouraged Megan to lie to her parents and helped her to do so, which harmed the parent-child relationship and delayed Megan from receiving needed mental health counseling,” stated AFL.
Per the lawsuit, Jane’s attempts to learn of what had happened to her daughter were rebuffed by school staff and leadership in 2022. The principal at her daughter’s school refused to disclose further records or information about the conversations school staff had with her daughter, and refused to comply with Jane’s demand to cease referring to her daughter as a boy and by a boy’s name.
“The principal admitted that school personnel intentionally had not changed Megan’s name in the [Synergy] system to avoid any notification being sent to Jane and that there were no plans to change Megan’s name in the system,” stated the lawsuit. “The principal told Jane that even if Jane had asked to be notified about any name changes, pronoun changes, or other choices related to a transgender identity by her child, it was official MPS policy not to tell parents and that school personnel would not notify Jane about any further developments related to these issues.”
It was only after this ordeal that Jane discovered Megan’s struggles and, reportedly, was able to resolve them through conversations with her mother and a psychotherapist. The lawsuit stated that this maternal intervention resulted in Megan’s issues being “completely resolved” within a month.
“[Megan] is now very comfortable presenting herself as a female and using her given name and is thriving in high school,” stated AFL.
AFL claimed to also have discovered, upon information and belief, that MPS employees regularly ignored the requirement to notify parents after students began transitioning genders in school.
AFL further issued evidence of a school counselor, Emily Wulff at Kino Junior High, instructing school staff in an email last March to not disclose gender transitions to anyone outside those allowed within the support plan. Wulff’s email made no mention of parental notification.
In a follow-up email, Wulff clarified that the purpose of the nondisclosure policy was to “protect outing students who are not ready to come out to peers or family members.” Wulff specified that the support plan was designed to keep gender transitions a secret from certain families.
“The main takeaways would be to make sure when contacting home to use their preferred name home,” wrote Wulff. “For example, if I have a student that goes by Emily and she/her pronouns that I need to call home for, and in their plan it says to use their birth name and biological pronouns home, [be] sure you do not out the student by using their preferred name and pronouns they use at school.”
Last March, Wulff also directed school employees to keep up a spreadsheet tracking the gender transition journeys of 17 students, titled “Pronoun Preference,” with notes declaring whether a student’s parents and family were aware of their transition.
For three students whose parents were documented as “unaware,” Wulff’s spreadsheet directed school employees to hide their preferred names and pronouns. For another seven students whose parents were documented as somewhat aware or partially supportive, the spreadsheet instructed staff to use the students’ birth names and gender to mask the extent of their transition.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
