Arizona has a unique bifurcated election system, where residents who provide proof of U.S. citizenship can vote in all elections while others may vote only in federal elections. This results in ballots cast by voters who haven’t proven their U.S. citizenship. Arizona law requires residents registering to vote in the state to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
However, after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Arizona must accept U.S. voter registration forms because of federal requirements under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, the state allows residents registering to vote who don’t provide proof of citizenship to receive ballots for federal races only.
Federal voter registration forms require those filling them out only to sign a sworn declaration that they are U.S. citizens. When residents register to vote or update their registration, an election system accesses their driver’s license records to verify whether they have proof of citizenship. Those without documentation are ineligible to vote in state elections and registered as “federal-only” voters.
Last year, Arizona enacted a law that requires counties to check federal-only voters for citizenship against multiple databases. The counties must reject any federal applications if they find the individual is not a U.S. citizen, and any official knowingly ignoring the requirement could receive a felony charge.
The Justice Department sued Arizona over the law in July 2022, claiming it is a textbook violation of the National Voter Registration Act and violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Former Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright believes Arizona is one of the only states to have bifurcated elections because the U.S. Election Assistance Commission didn’t allow the state to require driver’s licenses for voter registration.
A report by the Public Interest Legal Foundation earlier this year found that the most likely reason for a foreign national to admit that they have been registered to vote is that “they want to remain in the United States as future naturalized citizens.” In the naturalization application process, foreign nationals are often ordered by immigration officials to get voter registration records cancelled.
At least 5,697 federal-only ballots were cast in the 2020 presidential election in Arizona, most of which came from Maricopa County. Only some of the counties specified as to whether all the federal-only ballots cast were also accepted. The 2020 presidential election results showed former President Donald Trump with 10,457 votes less than President Joe Biden in the state.
Federal Only Registrants as of October 15th, 2020 (Responses) (1).pdf
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Statistics for Federal Only Registrants as of OCTOBER 11th, 2022 (Responses) (1).pdf
Apache County:
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 162
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 97
Cochise County:
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 288
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 297
Coconino County:
- Federal-only ballots accepted and counted in 2020: 335
- Federal-only ballots accepted and counted in 2022: 116
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 2,381
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 2,841
Gila County:
- Federal-only ballots cast and accepted in 2020: 23
- Federal-only ballots cast and accepted in 2022: 5
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 88
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 67
Graham County:
- Federal-only ballots cast and counted in 2020: 8
- Federal-only ballots cast and counted in 2022: 5
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 40
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 45
Greenlee County:
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2020 and accepted: 4
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2022 and accepted: 1
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 9
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 6
La Paz County:
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2020: 11
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2022: 0
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 27
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 16
Maricopa County:
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2020: 8,114, with 4,484 of those accepted and counted
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2022: 2,749
- Federal-only voters registered in 2020: 14,298
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 27,441
Mohave County:
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2020: 257
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2022: 80
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 707
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 484
Navajo County:
- Federal-only ballots cast and counted in 2020: 14
- Federal-only ballots cast and counted in 2022: 2
- Federal-only voters registered in 2020: 46
- Federal-only voters registered in 2022: 82
Pima County:
Pinal County:
- Federal-only ballots accepted and counted in 2020: 96
- Federal-only ballots accepted and counted in 2022: 49
- All federal-only voters registered in 2020: 1,369
- All federal-only voters registered in 2022: 1,233
Santa Cruz County:
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2020: 7
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2022: 5
- Federal-only voters registered in 2020: 30
- Federal-only voters registered in 2022: 30
Yavapai County:
- Federal-only ballots cast and accepted in 2020: 279
- Federal-only ballots cast and accepted in 2022: 63
- Federal-only voters registered in 2020: 509
- Federal-only voters registered in 2022: 226
Yuma County:
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2020: 179
- Federal-only ballots cast in 2022: 53
- Federal-only voters registered in 2020: 333
- Federal-only voters registered in 2022: 403
READ MORE: JUST THE NEWS
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