Grand Canyon Times

America First Legal has filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer for failing to perform a "mandatory obligation" in his role by removing “foreign citizens” from the voter rolls, as required by Arizona law. 

America First Legal posted on X that it brought suit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday, on behalf of the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, Inc. and voter Yvonne Cahill against Richer, in his official capacity.

“We filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Recorder on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and a registered voter and naturalized citizen for failing to take action to remove foreign citizens from their voter rolls. On July 17, 2024, we sent letters on behalf of our clients demanding that election officials in all 15 Arizona counties fulfill their legal obligations to prevent aliens from voting and warning them that we would pursue legal action if they fail to do so,” AFL wrote in its post.

“Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer replied through his attorney, brazenly stating that he would not be taking any action. He incorrectly claimed that his office is already following the law about verifying the citizenship of voters. This claim is incorrect, because the number of registered voters without confirmed citizenship continues to rise under his watch, and his office has not even bothered to obtain access to any of the necessary databases for checking the citizenship of already registered voters. We are now fulfilling our legal promise and suing Maricopa County on behalf of our clients.”

According to the suit, Arizona election officials have a mandatory obligation to ensure that foreign nationals are removed from their voter rolls, and that they use available access to federal databases to perform that obligation.

Thus, Arizona law requires county recorders to perform monthly list maintenance to confirm the citizenship of registered voters who have failed to provide proof of their citizenship.

The suit argues that two federal statutes in effect for nearly 30 years, 8 U.S.C. Section 1373(c) and 8 U.S.C. Section 1644, allow state and local officials to “obtain information about the citizenship or immigration status of any individual for any lawful purpose…yet, Recorder Richer obstinately refuses to use these statutes to get citizenship information from [the] Department of Health Services about voters registered in Maricopa County.”

In response to the suit, Maricopa County Deputy Elections Director of Communications Jennifer Liewer said to Grand Canyon Times, “The County does not comment on pending litigation.”

However, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office did issue a statement on the case.

“The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office prioritizes and prides itself on maintaining accurate, up-to-date voter rolls. Under Recorder Stephen Richer, voter list maintenance has remained a top priority, removing more than 400,000 voters from the rolls since January 2021. As an administrative office, we will continue to follow the letter of the law,” the spokesperson stated.

In the July 30 Primary Election, Rep. Justin Heap (R-10) prevailed over Richer and Don W. Hiatt in a hotly-contested race. Heap will face-off against attorney and Democrat Tim Stringham in the General Election on Nov. 5.

Arizona Revised Statute 16-123 provides that “a person who registers to vote in Arizona shall provide an identifying document that establishes proof of location of residence” and Page 15 of Arizona’s Election Procedures Manual states that “a County Recorder has no duty to verify the registrant’s residency status and shall rely on the registrant’s documentation or affirmation of residency.”

Arizona Revised Statute 16-103 adds, “In lieu of the voter providing the identifying document, a County Recorder may provide the document via any record maintained by the County Recorder’s Office. But that requirement does not apply to qualified persons who are temporarily absent from the state or persons in the service of the United States.”

“As of April 1, 2024, there were 35,273 registered voters in Arizona who had failed to provide proof of their citizenship and were therefore entitled to vote in federal (but not state and local) races. The 2020 presidential election in Arizona was decided by only 10,457 votes,” America First Legal stated in a follow-up post on X.