Group claims AZ recorders don't check voters' citizenship

An Arizona group that has claimed election irregularity in the state is suing all 15 county recorders, accusing them of failing to do their jobs to ensure that only citizens are voting.

The new filing Wednesday by Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona contends the recorders have an obligation under both state and federal statutes to perform “list maintenance’’ on their voter rolls. The organization and its legal team, formed by former Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, are telling U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton the recorders are not complying with those laws.

Now they want the judge to order the recorders to make what they claim are mandatory checks. They also want the recorders to turn over a list of those who registered without providing proof of citizenship — registration that is legal — to Attorney General Kris Mayes.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who was the first one sued last month, already denied his agency is not following the law.

The expanded lawsuit comes because America First Legal, which is representing Strong Communities, sent letters to the other 14 county recorders demanding they follow the law as attorney James Rogers sees it. Now it has added them to the lawsuit.

“The defendants have ignored these requirements,’’ Rogers said of the county officials. “They have failed to take the actions required by law to ensure that foreign citizens are removed from their voter rolls. These failures cause voters to lose confidence in the integrity of our election system.’’

But Gov. Katie Hobbs, asked Wednesday about this litigation and other similar lawsuits, said it is the challengers who are causing the problem.

“I think it is absolutely unconscionable that folks are trying to, as we head into this important election season, this close to an election ... that they’re trying to undo and upend how we do elections and how Arizonans can have their voices heard,’’ Hobbs said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure the processes in place, which ensure that we have accurate and secure elections, stay in place so that Arizonans can participate.’’

The issue surrounds the National Voter Registration Act. It allows people to register to vote without the same proof of citizenship that the state requires on its own forms.

Those who use the federal form can vote only in presidential and congressional races. At last count there were more than 41,000 on that list out of more than 4.1 million registered voters in Arizona.

Rogers acknowledges what the federal law allows. But he insists that doesn’t absolve election officials of a separate affirmative duty to use other resources and databases to scrub the rolls of anyone who is not a citizen.

“Foreign citizens do register to vote,’’ he told Bolton.

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Miller, who is president of America First Legal, said his organization “will do everything in its power to fight mass illegal alien voting and foreign interference in our democracy.’’

The evidence cited in the lawsuit of illegal voting, however, consists solely of information abut efforts in other states where election officials said they purged foreign voters from the rolls, including situations where Rogers said some had voted.

There is nothing in the litigation, however, that suggests people who are not citizens are signing up to vote in Arizona, much less they are actually casting ballots. Neither Strong Communities nor America First Legal responded to requests for any evidence they have.

Hobbs said she doubts those federal-only voters are not citizens.

“These are people who didn’t have the documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registering with the federal form,’’ she said. “That does not mean that they’re not eligible voters. And our systems in place ensure that every voter who’s registered is eligible to vote.’’

That’s also the assessment of the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, which is not a defendant in this lawsuit.

“The federal only ballots are made up of groups like Native Americans, college students and the elderly,’’ those who may not have easy access to the documents to prove citizenship, said office spokesman Aaron Thacker.

Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cazares-Kelly, asked Wednesday about the new lawsuit, responded with a copy of a letter she sent to Kelly when he first threatened to sue her in July. In it, she detailed the activities of her office to ensure that anyone who signs up using the federal form is eligible.

Like Hobbs, she questioned the premise of charges to the contrary.

“Reality has proven that as a general rule, those who are not citizens do not register to vote,’’ Cazares-Kelly wrote. “In rare cases where someone who is not eligible actually attempts to register to vote, there are safeguards and laws to ensure that only eligible persons can vote.’’

Others, including Cochise County Recorder David Stevens, said they did not want to respond now that there is an active lawsuit against them.