In recent years, Arizona Republicans have implemented proof-of-citizenship requirements for registered voters, claiming it was necessary to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. However, Just Security reports that these Republicans have recently shifted their stance after realizing the law would disenfranchise a significant number of registered Republicans.
The issue arose last month when Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer discovered a glitch in Arizona’s driver’s license database. This glitch resulted in nearly 100,000 registered voters failing to meet the state’s newly revised proof-of-citizenship requirements. Richer filed an emergency petition with the Arizona Supreme Court, arguing that these voters should be deemed ineligible for upcoming elections. Ironically, he faced opposition from the same Republicans who had previously supported these rules.
Data from Just Security reveals why Richer’s filing alarmed Arizona Republicans: 37 percent of the affected voters were registered Republicans, compared to 27 percent registered Democrats and 29 percent unaffiliated voters.
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Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told Just Security that the GOP’s reversal highlights their lack of genuine concern for election integrity. “In my effort to affirm nearly 100,000 Arizonans who hadn’t yet provided citizenship documentation into fully registered voters, the Republican Party and state legislative leaders joined the initiative,” Fontes said. “Their involvement was not out of concern for non-citizen voting—which they know isn’t an issue—but because more Republicans would have been affected, potentially altering legislative control and impacting certain initiatives. This was about political self-preservation. At this point, Arizona Republicans can no longer credibly claim that their concern is non-citizen voting.”