Arizona election database flags 100,000 voters as possible noncitizens: ‘Coding oversight’

A “coding oversight” in state software is calling into question the citizenship status of 100,000 registered Arizona voters, prompting the state’s Democratic secretary of state to insist he will send out ballots to those affected anyway.

“I am unwilling to disenfranchise this many voters by limiting them, suddenly, and with little notice, to a federal-only ballot when none of them had actual notice of or blame for this issue,” Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said during a Tuesday news conference. “We inherited this problem, we’re on it, and we’re going to fix it. It’s as simple as that.”

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A voter casts a ballot at a polling location in Fairfax, Virginia, on Nov. 7, 2023. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The mistake affects individuals who obtained their driver’s licenses before October 1996 and subsequently received duplicates before registering to vote after 2004. Since 2005, Arizona has required proof of U.S. citizenship for voting in state and local elections. Without this proof, these voters would be considered “federal only” voters, permitting them to vote solely on presidential and congressional elections rather than the full ballot.

“We don’t have any

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