Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced that more than 218,000 voters were incorrectly recorded as having provided proof of citizenship, a requirement for participating in state and local elections. This figure is more than twice the initial estimate previously reported by the office.
The error was revealed just weeks before the upcoming election and has affected more Republican voters than Democratic ones. Secretary Fontes has not provided detailed information about what caused the issue or how it will be resolved.
In response to the announcement, Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda issued a statement criticizing Secretary Fontes’ handling of voter registration records. Swoboda said, “Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has repeatedly demonstrated a complete inability to execute the core functions of his position. The public, impacted stakeholders, and the Arizona Supreme Court were misled as to the extent of the issue and its effect on Arizona’s voter registration records.”
Swoboda also called for immediate action from Secretary Fontes: “The AZGOP demands that Secretary Fontes IMMEDIATELY make public the SQL query used to determine in the voter records impacted by this error and that his office IMMEDIATELY deliver the list of impacted voters to all 15 county recorders.”
She further criticized efforts to centralize control over voter registration changes: “Secretary Fontes’ desire for a top down system continues to shut out our county recorders who are the ONLY officials empowered by Arizona statute to process voter registration record changes.”
Swoboda concluded her statement with concerns about transparency and urged voters not to be discouraged: “This is a sad day for transparency.
The voters of Arizona have a total loss of confidence in Secretary Fontes. The AZGOP will continue to work toward transparency in all of our elections process.
A message to our voters from your chair: Do NOT allow these people to dissuade you from voting.
We. Are. Winning. VOTE!”
The incident comes at a critical time as election officials prepare for high turnout in November’s general election.
