Data coding issues affecting Arizona voter rolls just before the 2024 presidential election could have been identified and fixed years ago, according to an ABC15 investigation.
Six weeks ago Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced they had found a data coding error in Arizona’s driver license database that allowed at least one non-citizen register to vote.
“This isn’t a comfortable position to be in by any stretch,” Fontes said on September 17.
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Because of the data errors, an estimated 218,000 people, 5% of all Arizona voters, may not have provided documentary proof of citizenship to register as required by Prop 200, which became law in 2004.
Arizona is the only state that requires proof of citizenship to vote a full ballot, although people who don’t provide proof can sign an affidavit to vote only in federal races.
Multiple current and former election officials told the ABC15 Investigators they were unaware of any data coding issues prior to September 2024.
“The fact that it didn't come to light earlier baffles me a bit,” said state Senator Ken Bennett, a Prescott Republican who is also a former Arizona secretary of state.
“Nothing ever came up between 2009 and 2015 while I was secretary,” said Bennett who said he frequently communicated with his election staff and the 15 county recorders. “It would have raised the same big, red flag.”
After Bennett left office, the issue did come to light at least once.
2016 Noncitizen Voter Case
In October 2016, ABC15 reported on a non-citizen was able to register to vote in Maricopa County. At the time Alan Faygenblat described his actions as an attempt to see “if the system really worked” in preventing voter fraud.
“I didn’t want to get in trouble,” he told ABC15 back then.
Faygenblat was criminally charged to false voter registration and pleaded guilty in February 2017.
According to court records, Faygenblat was an Israeli citizen who was legally in the United States, but he falsely checked a box saying he was a citizen on the Service Arizona website. He received a voter registration card in the mail.
“We have all these politicians,” Faygenblat said. “They've been in politics for many, many, many, many years and no one figured this out.”
In 2016, the Maricopa County Recorder’s office described a loophole that allowed Faygenblat to register.
“Any person who got a driver's license after 1996 had to prove citizenship to the MVD. (The individual) had gotten a driver's license in 1994 so he did not need to prove citizenship. However, for some reason after 1996 he had to get a new license reissued to him and he was never scanned for citizenship at that point,” a recorder’s spokesperson had told ABC15.
Then-Recorder Helen Purcell dismissed the idea this could lead to widespread fraud.
“I think we check it thoroughly enough that’s not the case,” Purcell told ABC15.
Eight years later, the same loophole was discovered with a new noncitizen who registered to vote in Maricopa County.
Understanding the Data Errors
This month, ABC15 asked representatives from the Motor Vehicle Division, which manages the driver's license database, why the agency didn’t fix the flaw back in 2016.
In an email, an MVD spokesman said the 2016 registration “was allowed due to how the system historically operated.”
“MVD identified a decades-old policy that allowed licenses issued after 1996, including duplicates issued after 1996, to be accepted as proof of authorized presence for reinstatements and renewals,” he added. That policy was created in 1997 in response to a 1996 law. He also said MVD has now “changed the system to ensure election officials receive the information needed for voter registration.”
The MVD policy was made years before election law changed in 2004 under prop 200 saying driver licenses and IDs issued after October 1, 1996, could serve as proof of citizenship when registering to vote for the first time.
These two laws didn’t mesh perfectly, but election officials trusted that MVD’s data would confirm if someone had provided proof of citizenship and if they got their license or ID after 1996.
MVD now tells ABC15 the data exchanged with the state voter database had the following issues:
- All pre-1996 driver's license holders were also coded citizens even though some were not. MVD did not require proof of legal status prior to 1996.
- MVD data didn’t necessarily show the original license issue date. The agency used the most recent license date, which could be the date a duplicate, renewal or reinstatement was created. That prevented a clear delineation between pre- and post- 1996 license holders.
The governor has ordered an audit to look at MVD policies and procedures. Auditors want to determine how and when these data flaws began and to offer solutions to prevent future problems.
Multiple Election Lawsuits
ABC15 also reached out to three election attorneys who’ve worked for years on lawsuits over Arizona’s proof of citizenship laws and their administration. None had heard about widespread data errors until this year.
“We've had for 20 years, Republican, Democrat governors and secretaries of state and county reporters, they're all had a hand in this, and no one caught it,” said attorney Kory Langhofer.
Each did say their own legal cases and other voter roll investigations have rarely turned up any unauthorized voters.
“There was no evidence prevented or presented in any of the cases that we have [that] large numbers, or any numbers of noncitizens who are voting on our elections,” said ASU election law Professor Patty Ferguson-Bohnee.
“Our shared expert on the plaintiff side found that there were errors at times,” said Ernest Herrera, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “However, the federal district court found that the system overall was reliable.”
Next Steps
The miscoded voters have not been named, despite a court challenge to release a list.
The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled they can vote as normal on November 5.
Officials are still working on a plan to fix the voter rolls after the election. There are preliminary discussions about requiring the voters affected by the data error to submit proof of citizenship prior to voting in future elections if they want to continue voting a full ballot.
Got a story tip? You can reach ABC15 Senior Investigator Melissa by email at melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @MelissaBlasius or on Facebook.
