The saga of the Arizona voter data coding issue continues to unravel as the Secretary of State's Office recently disclosed further complications that may affect an additional 120,000 Arizonans. These individuals, who have resided in the state for years and affirmed that they are U.S. citizens, are the latest to be entwined in a coding oversight involving the Arizona Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) and the voter registration databases. The new figures include approximately 79,000 Republicans, 61,000 Democrats, and 76,000 Other Party (OTH) registrants, with a total now reaching around 218,000 potentially impacted voters, as detailed by the State of Arizona.
Despite the increased number, the Supreme Court's decision from September 20 remains unfaltering. Individuals, much like the initial group identified, were erroneously marked as having submitted documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) as mandated by Arizona's Proposition 200 for voting in state and local elections. This latest issue echoes the initial misclassification relating to voters carrying driver's licenses issued before 1996. It was highlighted that the MVD had been wrongly identifying these voters with outdated licenses as having provided DPOC. According to the State of Arizona, the Arizona voter registration database has been updated to correctly indicate those needing to provide citizenship proof.
"Let’s be clear, Prop 200 is an extreme law that attempts to solve a problem that is vanishingly rare," stated Secretary Fontes. "The reality is these registrants have met the same legal standard as every other American who registers to vote: swearing under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens. We can't risk denying actual citizens the right to vote due to an error out of their control. This issue is another example of why we need to fund elections, update systems and staff, and carry forward our proven tradition of safe, fair and secure elections," as relayed in the initial announcement.
