Arizona counties are contacting 200,000 voters who haven't provided proof of citizenship

Counties across Arizona are asking longtime voters affected by decades-long voter registration problems to provide proof they are U.S. citizens. But some election officials believe those voters can still vote in future elections whether they provide that proof or not unless new legislation or a court order says otherwise.

Prior to last year’s election, election officials discovered the state hadn’t properly verified proof of citizenship for some voters. And now counties are contacting the estimated 200,000 voters affected by the problem.

Votebeat first reported counties were contacting impacted people, which includes Arizonans 46 years old up who originally got an Arizona driver’s license before 1996 and then registered to vote after 2004, when a state law went into effect requiring proof of citizenship to vote.

The lion’s share of those voters reside in Maricopa County but affected voters live throughout the state. Several counties confirmed to KJZZ that they have contacted those voters, asking them to provide proof of citizenship.

• The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is planning to mail notifications to over 100,000 residents after the May 20 elections in Goodyear and Glendale.
• The Pima County Recorder’s Office plans to start mailing notifications to about 30,000 affected voters soon.
• The Coconino County Recorder’s Office sent letters to 5,596 affected residents in March and has resolved the issue for nearly 2,000 recorders.
• Mohave County has about 4,500 impacted voters and sent about 4,200 letters on March 7.
• Yavapai County has over 10,000 impacted voters and has started to mail out notifications.
• The Yuma County Recorder’s Office mailed out notifications to about 3,800 affected voters on March 21.
• Gila county has sent out letters to 3,281 affected voters.
  

Election officials in Apache, Cochise, Greenlee, La Paz, Navajo, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties did not respond to requests for comment.

Reaching those affected and correcting the issue is a tall task, especially for smaller counties with limited staff.

Yavapai County Recorder Michelle Burchill said she chose not to mail out notifications to all 10,000 affected residents at once.

“We have mailed our first batch last week and plan to send about 2,500 per week to give my small staff the ability to keep up with the influx of calls and responses,” Burchill said. “We are getting numerous calls and are seeing a lot of voters returning the required documentation. For the most part, our voters have been understanding and willing to assist us without too many complaints.”

Graham County, the third smallest county in the state, still hasn’t identified how many voters are impacted.

“I do not have a timeline at this time,” Graham County Recorder Polly Merriman said.

It’s also still unclear exactly when voters affected by the issue must provide proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in future elections.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, previously registered voters affected by the error have until 7 p.m. on the night before an election to provide that proof.

Sam Stone, chief of staff for Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, said voters in that county will have 35 days after receiving the letter to provide proof of citizenship.

“Voters who do not respond will be moved to ‘federal-only’ status,” Stone said, meaning they would only be eligible to vote in future federal elections. He said that could affect voters in the upcoming elections in November 2025, when he expects there will be school and local government measures on the ballot throughout Maricopa County.

Both of those statements comport with a bill currently pending in the Arizona Legislature that would require county recorders to remove someone from active status if they are notified they have not provided proof citizenship and fail to fix the problem within 35 days. House Bill 2038 would allow a person to vote in an election if they provide proof before 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Other county recorders disagree with Stone, though, because that bill has not yet become law.

“I want to first clarify that all of the voters in Coconino County that are affected by this unfortunate issue will keep their full ballot status and be able to vote in all future elections until there are court orders or legislation passed that informs me that I must do otherwise,” Coconino County Recorder Aubrey Sonderegger said.

Both Sonderegger and Burchill, the Yavapai County recorder, said they are still sending out notifications to voters now to be proactive in the event a new law or court order does come down affecting those voters.

“Now, there isn’t anything preventing them from voting because we are still waiting for possible legislation on how to handle these voters,” Burchill said.

The whole situation is creating confusion for voters.

“Most registrants are confused but generally understand that provided documentary proof of [citizenship] is a requirement,” a spokesman for the Yuma County Recorder said.

Votebeat spoke with several voters who have already received notifications, including a Gila County resident who didn't think it was a legitimate letter from elections officials.