PHOENIX — A Superior Court judge has ordered the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to release the names of about half of the Arizona voters who may have not provided proof of citizenship due to a decades-old data error.
These voters were incorrectly coded in a motor vehicle division database as having provided proof. As many as 218,000 voters could be affected.
The judge has ordered the Secretary of State to release the names of 98,000 of these voters to an Arizona group no later than noon on Monday.
That group, Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona Incorporated, won't be allowed to share the list until after the election.
Six weeks ago Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced they had found the data coding error in Arizona’s driver's license database that allowed at least one noncitizen to register to vote.
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.
