Free Enterprise Club President And Others File Lawsuit Against Fontes Over Alleged Dirty Voter Rolls
By Matthew Holloway |
After failing to comply with an August 2023 legal demand that his office properly update the alleged dirty voter rolls of 14 Arizona counties, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is now the target of a lawsuit from Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi, and former gubernatorial candidate Steve Gaynor, in their capacities as voters as well as Arizona GOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda in her official capacity.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Attorneys Jason B. Torchinsky, Dallin B. Holt, and Brennan A.R. Bowen representing Mussi sent a pre-litigation letter to Fontes on August 8, 2023. In the statutory notice they informed Fontes of their allegations that these counties are in violation of Section 8 of the National Voting Rights Act.
The legal team cited Census Bureau Data showing that four counties in the state have reported having a larger total of registered voters than citizens over the age of 18. Those counties in particular were Apache County with a startling 117.4%, Santa Cruz County with 112.6%, La Paz County with 100.5%, and Navajo County with 100.1%. The outlying counties possessing much smaller populations when compared to Maricopa and Pima Counties, home to Phoenix and Tucson respectively, only serve to amplify the statistical abnormalities. In addition, the team identified nine other counties with voter registration rates in excess of 90% of voting aged adults with another in excess of 80%.
Registration rates for all 14 counties far eclipse the voter registration rate recorded nationwide in previous elections, noted in the complaint as being 69.1% determined by reviewing the Current Population Survey (“CPS”) data from the U.S. Census Bureau and comparing estimates of registered voters who are actually eligible to be registered. Arizona’s rate is noted as 69.9%
The attorneys explained, “This evidence shows that these counties are not conducting appropriate list maintenance to ensure that the voter registration roll is accurate and current, as required by federal law.”
In the text of the complaint the attorneys noted, “These rates are implausibly high,” adding “The data made public by the Secretary show that Arizona counties have actual registration rates that exceed the expected registration rates provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and evidence a high rate of likely ineligible voter names on the official lists of eligible voters.”
Applying more concrete numbers to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that “Based on even the most conservative data sources, Arizona has at least 500,000 registered voters on the voter rolls who should have otherwise been removed.” They summarized in the complaint, “In other words, at least 500,000 registered voters currently listed on the Secretary’s voter rolls for Arizona are deceased or no longer reside in Arizona.”
In a statement to AZ Free News, The Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Deputy Director of Policy Gregory Blackie said:
“Last year, the Free Enterprise Club sent a pre-litigation NVRA notice to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes highlighting artificially high voter registration rates compared to the most recent US census data. Since then, four Arizona counties continue to have more registered voters than residents of voting age population and the other eleven have rates far exceeding the national average. Ensuring only those eligible to vote are registered is the starting point for conducting elections with integrity. We hope the courts will make sure Fontes complies with the NVRA mandate that he maintain up-to-date and accurate voter registration lists by removing those who are not eligible.”
Mussi, Gaynor, and Swoboda are seeking a declaratory judgement that Fontes has violated Section 8 of the NVRA and that the court issue injunctions “requiring the Secretary to fully comply with any existing procedures that Arizona has in place to ensure ineligible voters are identified and removed from the rolls,” and “develop and implement additional reasonable and effective registration list-maintenance programs to cure their failure to comply with Section 8 of the NVRA and to ensure that ineligible registrants are not on the voter rolls.” The plaintiffs are also seeking that Fontes’ office assume the legal costs and attorneys fees as well.
AZ Free News reached out to Fontes’ office for comment and were informed by Deputy Communications Director JP Martin that “unfortunately the office doesn’t speculate on legal matters in this way.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
