New lawsuit seeks more citizenship checks of Maricopa County's 'federal only' voters (2024)

A new lawsuit from a local conservative group seeks to force election officials in Arizona's most populous county to take extra steps to verify the citizenship status of about 26,000 voters.

The suit, filed against Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer by Trump-aligned America First Legal on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, is the latest in a series of legal challenges regarding voters who register to cast ballots in federal races without providing documentary proof of citizenship. It comes weeks after the law group sent out demand letters to counties statewide and hits during a key period for voter registration before the high-stakes presidential election in November.

Nationwide, registration forms generally require voters to attest that they are American citizens. Voters do so under the penalty of perjury, meaning they can be held criminally liable if they are found to have provided false information. But Arizona also requires voters to hand over a birth certificate, a passport or one of a handful of other documents proving their citizenship.

Of the state's 4.1 million registered voters, about 42,000 haven't provided that proof, creating a unique, two-track system. Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that state lawmakers can block voters who have not shown citizenship documents from participating in state and local races, but must allow so-called "federal-only voters" to cast ballots in federal contests. That includes the upcoming presidential race, U.S. Senate contest and congressional matchups.

These voters still go through checks.

State law mandates that county recorders "use all available resources to verify the citizenship status" of those registering to vote, including checking the citizenship status of federal-only voters against an immigration status verification service provided by the Department of Homeland Security when practicable. That system requires specific identification numbers that county officials don't have for every federal-only voter.

Voter rolls are also routinely checked with information from the U.S. Social Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Maricopa County Jury Commissioner’s Office.

But attorneys with America First Legal said that isn't enough and raised concerns about growing numbers of federal-only voters in recent months. Their suit accuses Richer of failing to perform required voter list maintenance — a claim his office denies.The lawyers say county officials should take extra steps to verify the citizenship of federal-only voters, such as directly requesting citizenship information from the Department of Homeland Security under provisions of federal codes that requires government entities to exchange information about a person's citizenship status for purposes mandated in law.

"This lawsuit seeks to restore public trust in our State’s electoral system by holding Recorder Richer accountable for his failures and to ensure that the list maintenance required by the law — and common sense — is performed," the suit reads.

Sierra Ciaramella, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Recorder's Office, said the agency maintains "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," she said. "As an administrative office, we will continue to follow the letter of the law."

Ahead of election, conservatives raise concerns about federal-only voters

The lawsuit against Maricopa County comes on the heels of several dizzying swerves in an ongoing legal appeal that ultimately aims to require all Arizona voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The appeal, brought by GOP legislative leaders and national Republicans, challenged a federal judge's decision to block portions of two laws passed in 2022. Last month, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed that decision and said voters registering on state forms could see their applications rejected for not providing proof of citizenship. The court determined voters could continue to register to vote in federal races if they used federal voter registration forms.

It then swiftly reversed its decision, ruling last week that Arizonans would again be allowed to register to vote in federal races with state forms without having to prove citizenship. Republican officials have since vowed to seek an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ciaramella said at least 200 voter registration requests were rejected in the time period between the two court decisions. She said the most recent ruling didn't include a retroactive reconsideration of those registration attempts, but county officials are in the process of sending letters to rejected voters informing them of the new ruling and how they can register to vote.

Reporter Mary Jo Pitzl contributed to this article.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X:@SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps. Sign up for her weekly election newsletter,Republic Recount.