(LOS ANGELES) – Arizona authorities acknowledged Tuesday that an administrative error is causing problems in the key state's electoral system, which is under intense scrutiny ahead of the tense U.S. presidential election in November.
“About 97,000” voters are registered to vote without providing proof of their U.S. citizenship, as required by state law, said Stephen Richer, an election official in Maricopa County, where the error was discovered.
The error will not affect their ability to vote in the presidential and congressional elections next November, as the United States does not require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
On the other hand, it could prevent them from participating in local elections and a referendum on abortion planned for Arizona.
Above all, it risks fueling accusations by Donald Trump and his Republican allies, who claim that foreigners are fraudulently voting in the United States, in a critical situation: the billionaire lost Arizona in 2020 by just 10,000 votes to Joe Biden, which has fueled all sorts of conspiracy theories.
The 97,000 voters concerned “in all likelihood, […] “Almost all American citizens,” Mr. Reicher added.
According to this Republican elected official, who is at odds with his party because he refuses to support the lies about the alleged 2020 election, the error mainly concerns people between the ages of 45 and 60.
The majority of them are registered Republican voters, reflecting Arizona's general electoral distribution of 4 million voters.
Federal law requires voters to attest to their U.S. citizenship. If they break the oath, an alien voting in an election risks imprisonment, loss of residency, and deportation.
But Mr. Risher said he would take legal action to figure out how to deal with voters affected by the error during local elections also scheduled for November 5. Arizona is the only US state that requires proof of citizenship to vote.
There is disagreement among various authorities in Arizona about whether these voters should get a ballot that allows them to participate in local elections in November.
“That's why we went to court,” he explained. “To get a clear answer.”
He explained that the error came from a defect in the registration procedures in the electoral lists for some people who used their driving license as proof of identity.
All audits conducted in Arizona — including one commissioned by the Republican Party itself — have concluded that there was no voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
