Controversy Surrounds Voter Registration in Maricopa County
Maricopa County’s voter registration has come under scrutiny following revelations of potential discrepancies involving non-citizens on the voter rolls. This development has sparked a debate over the reliability of the tools used to verify voter eligibility.
In a significant announcement, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap revealed that the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database identified 137 registered voters in the county who are not U.S. citizens. Heap, aligned with the Republican Party and a supporter of Donald Trump, shared that his office conducted a thorough review of over 61,000 voters impacted by a communication flaw between the state’s election systems and a Department of Transportation database, discovered back in 2024.
This error meant that those individuals had not been required to provide documented proof of citizenship as mandated by state law. Heap stated, “That review confirmed U.S. citizenship and full ballot eligibility for 58,782 voters. Those individuals’ registrations have already been updated to ensure they are able to receive a full ballot in future elections.”
However, Heap also noted that the review identified 137 individuals who were not U.S. citizens, and 60 of them had participated in previous elections. This figure represents approximately 0.005% of Maricopa County’s 2.5 million voters.
In response, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes expressed concerns about the accuracy of the SAVE database. In a letter to Heap, Fontes questioned the diligence exercised by the Recorder’s Office in confirming the non-citizen status of the flagged individuals. Fontes highlighted reporting by Pro Publica that has documented the SAVE tool’s history of errors, particularly affecting naturalized citizens born outside the U.S.
Fontes emphasized, “Further, it is widely documented that the SAVE program has a high error rate, thus requiring verification of any data used by that system to impact an individual’s voting rights.” He also noted the longstanding use of the SAVE tool in Arizona for citizenship verification unavailable in other databases.
Despite the tool’s utility, Fontes voiced concerns over the public accusation of voters identified by the SAVE database without clear evidence of the verification process. State law mandates that when questions arise about voter registration validity, county election officials must notify the individuals and allow 35 days for issue resolution.
Fontes asserted, “Any action that has been taken to cancel these voters without going through a verification process that is consistent with state law is highly concerning to me and likely illegal.” The Recorder’s Office has yet to respond to requests for comment, and it remains uncertain if notifications were sent to the affected voters. According to Votebeat, the office reported having no records of such notices.
Fontes has requested that Heap provide details about the 137 flagged individuals, their voter registration status, and the methods used to notify them of the issue. Additionally, he seeks clarification on how the Recorder’s Office independently verified the information from the federal tool.
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