Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, said Monday that the number of voters in Arizona considered to have full access to the ballot without confirmation of their citizenship is now estimated at 218,000 people.
That number is more than double what state election officials said last month when they announced there were 98,000 misclassified voters in Arizona.
This figure represents 5.3 percent of all registered voters. While this error does not affect presidential or congressional voting eligibility, it could have significant influence on close local and state elections, as well as controversial ballot measures on issues such as abortion and immigration.
Arizona, a key state for the November presidential election, requires voters to prove their citizenship to cast a full ballot. However, residents can still vote in federal elections if they attest, under penalty of perjury, that they are citizens.
It remains unclear how officials overlooked this additional block of voters, especially after announcing two weeks ago that an error between the state’s voter registration system and the Division of Motor Vehicles ( MVD) had been resolved.
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Aaron Thacker, a spokesperson for Fontes’ office, said Tuesday that the fix implemented by the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) failed to resolve the problem.
In an email to The Associated Press (AP), the Arizona Department of Transportation, which oversees the MVD, said it had created a coding update for its system, but did not specify when the update would be update has been implemented.
In Arizona, a relatively small number of votes could change the outcome of a hotly contested legislative election, where Republicans hold a narrow majority in both chambers. This year, voters will also face important ballot measures, including one on the constitutional right to abortion and another aimed at criminalizing illegal entry into the state from Mexico.
Last month, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the initial group of electors would be allowed to vote fully in this year’s election. The decision was based on the fact that these voters had registered long ago and had attested, under penalty of perjury, that they were American citizens. The judges determined that voters were not responsible for the registration error and should not be disenfranchised so close to the Nov. 5 general election.
Fontes said the recent court ruling should also apply to the newly identified group of voters, who are split almost evenly between Democrats, Republicans and those not affiliated with either party.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.
