Arizona’s voter registration glitch: Are you one of 97,000 affected?

The voter registration of nearly 100,000 Arizona residents is up in the air after a coding error in state systems was revealed on Tuesday.

Depending on the outcome of a lawsuit, these voters may be classified as “federal-only voters” and barred from voting in state and local elections because they haven’t satisfied Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirements.

Many of those 100,000 voters had been erroneously allowed to vote in full-ballot elections for years due to a disconnect between the state’s Motor Vehicle Department and local election officials. That disconnect resulted in the state incorrectly marking those voters as having provided proof of citizenship when they had not, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes explained in a press conference on Tuesday.

“It’s a very small number given our 1.4 million voters in Arizona. It’s not a humongous number,” Fontes said. “But it is enough that we need to deal with it.”

Here’s what to know about the issue.

Why did this error occur?

The coding error stems from the state’s requirement of proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in Arizona elections and how the MVD shares driver’s license information with election officials.

Since October 1996, Arizona residents have been required to provide proof of citizenship to get a regular driver’s license. Noncitizens, such as green card holders, are issued a different type of license. Before 1996, there was no such differentiation.

In 2004, the state enacted its proof-of-citizenship law, which requires voters to show they’re U.S. citizens to vote in state and local elections. Ever since then, if county election officials saw a license issuance date after October 1996, they knew that person had already provided the state with documented proof of citizenship.

However, when residents who received a pre-October 1996 license requested a replacement card after that date — because an address had changed or the original had been lost — MVD would also update the issuance date when replacing the license. That new post-1996 issuance date would lead election officials to mistakenly assume those residents had provided proof of citizenship already.

Gov. Katie Hobbs has directed the MVD to fix the problem and ordered “an independent audit to ensure that MVD systems are functioning as necessary to support voter registration," according to a press release.

Who is affected?

Roughly 97,000 registered voters in Arizona are on the Secretary of State’s list. You might be one of them if:

• Your driver’s license was issued before October 1996
• You requested a replacement license after October 1996
• You registered to vote after 2004

Fontes said that many who fit those criteria are between 45 and 60 years old and lean Republican. There currently is no way to check if you’re an affected voter, as Fontes said his office will await the outcome of a court case before reaching out to the 97,000 voters on his list.

“If you are on this list, rest assured that you will be contacted soon by election officials,” Fontes said. He also asked that concerned voters wait to be contacted rather than reach out to their local election officials.

When was the error discovered?

The error was uncovered last week by Maricopa County elections officials, according to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. It was flagged by a Maricopa County worker who found a person on the county’s voter rolls who hadn’t provided proof of citizenship but was added as a full-ballot voter.

The person had a green card and wasn’t eligible to vote at all but had never cast a ballot.

“This flaw has existed since 2004. In every county. Across the state,” Richer said on social media. He also added that “all of these people have attested under penalty of law that they are U.S. citizens.” and that “almost all” probably are.

Fontes waited until Tuesday to announce the issue as he wanted to make sure officials “had all their ducks in a row” with all available information.

What happens now?

Time is short. County officials must send ballots to military and overseas voters on Thursday, and mail ballots go out in less than a month.

To resolve the issue, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office sued the Secretary of State’s office in a “friendly” lawsuit so that the Supreme Court could sort out the issue. Fontes’ office argues these voters should be given full ballot access, while Richer’s office says these voters should be given federal-only ballots.

“It should be an expedited act from the Arizona Supreme Court,” Fontes said. “We just want them to answer the question … we’re hoping that the Arizona Supreme Court acts swiftly.”

If the court sides with Richer to grant these voters federal-only ballots, Fontes said, affected voters will have a chance to present proof of citizenship by 7 p.m. on election day to receive full ballot access.

If you’re concerned about your voter registration status, you can check your registration on my.arizona.vote — though your registration could change if you’re affected by this glitch. Right now, Fontes said, “we’re asking folks to just stand by.”