Lawsuit seeks more citizenship checks of 'federal only' voters

PHOENIX — A group with links to Republican interests has filed what is likely to be the first of a series of lawsuits against Arizona county officials over what it claims is the failure to check for and purge voter rolls of those who are not citizens.

The claim by America First Legal, formed by a former Donald Trump adviser, is that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is disobeying state and federal laws by not using tools at his disposal to find out if any of the more than 26,000 people who signed up to vote using a federal form are ineligible to cast ballots.

Attorney James Rogers acknowledges that federal law does allow individuals to register using that federal form without providing the same “documented proof of citizenship’’ required to be submitted with the state form. And those who use the federal form are permitted to vote only for president and members of Congress.

But Rogers is asking Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Danielle Viola to order Richer to use “all available resources’’ to find out if any of those who signed up with the federal form are not citizens and should not be deciding who gets the state’s 11 electoral votes. And he also wants the judge to tell Richer to forward the names of everyone on that federal-only voter list to Attorney General Kris Mayes so she can conduct her own investigation.

This follows a letter sent to Richer from Rogers last month threatening to sue if those actions weren’t taken. Richer responded that his office is complying with the law.

It wasn’t just Richer, however, who got a letter.

Identical demands went out to the recorders in all 15 counties.

Some, like Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, also wrote back saying they believe they already are acting legally. And others, like David Stevens from Cochise County, responded by sending a list of “talking points’’ on the issue he had gotten from the Secretary of State’s Office.

So far, though, America First Legal has sued only Richer.

There was no immediate comment from the organization on why he was singled out and whether similar lawsuits will follow. But the new legal filings clearly show why they were unhappy with Richer.

For example, there’s the claim by Maricopa County it already complies with applicable state and federal laws related to voter registration.

“This claim is false,’’ Rogers wrote. He also termed “false’’ Richer’s claim he has no authority to ask the federal Department of Homeland Security to check the names of those on that federal-only list.

And then, Rogers said, is Richer’s failure to send all the names on that list to Mayes.

The lawsuit asks Viola to order him to do what it claims is legally required.

In a prepared statement, Richer’s office said it has not yet been served and cannot comment on the lawsuit. But it questioned the underlying claims that Richer was not doing his job.

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“The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office … prioritizes and prides itself on maintaining accurate, up-to-date voter rolls,’’ the statement says.

“Under Recorder Stephen Richer, voter list maintenance has remained a top priority, removing more than 400,000 voters from the rolls since January 2021,’’ it says. “As an administrative office, we will continue to follow the letter of the law.’’

Rogers acknowledged there are limits on what county recorders can do. There also is a federal court ruling restricting the ability of recorders to refuse to register for federal elections those who use the federal form but don’t provide proof of citizenship.

But Rogers contends none of that overrides other laws that he said makes voting by non-citizens illegal and requires counties to engage in “voter list maintenance procedures’’ like inquiring about citizenship and immigration status of potentially ineligible voters.

America First Legal presented no evidence that any of the more than 35,000 who have registered statewide using the federal form are not entitled to vote. And Aaron Thacker, press aide to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, has questioned the assumption that there are many people who have signed up to vote — and signed a sworn statement under penalty of perjury — who are not actually allowed to cast a ballot.

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

But Stephen Miller, president of America First Legal, had a different take, saying his organization is “leading the charge to keep illegal aliens from voting in 2024.’’

“Maricopa County, in direct violation of state law, is refusing to remove illegal alien voters from the rolls,’’ he said in a prepared statement.

Rogers, in his own statement, also cited no figures. But he said it’s at least a matter of perception.

“A recent survey found that 60% of Arizonans are concerned that cheating will affect the outcome of the 2024 election,’’ he said.

He also mentioned another survey in Arizona and five other battleground states, also conducted by Rasmussen, which claims that that more than 1% of those who said they were likely voters actually admitted to not being citizens.

“Many recent elections in Arizona have been decided by margins of less than 1%,’’ Rogers said.

“It is reasonable for Arizonans to be concerned,’’ he said, saying the lawsuit against Richer “is about helping to restore the public’s trust by making sure that election officials follow the law and that foreigners are not able to influence the outcome of our elections.’’

While Miller and Rogers are the ones arguing about non-citizens voting, American First Legal is not the actual plaintiff in the case. Instead, it is something called Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona which lists itself as a nonprofit charity.