Last-Minute Election Shenanigans Threaten Arizona Vote

Accusations of meddling against Arizona’s Democrat Attorney and Secretary of State spark controversy over Tuesday’s vote, reigniting lingering doubts stemming from the 2020 and 2022 elections. Among these are AG Kris Mayes’ threat to investigate comments made by Donald Trump about Liz Cheney and SOS Fontes’ failure to disclose 98,000 non-citizen voters, prompting a Maricopa Superior Court ruling mandating that Fontes reveal the voter list. In addition, the Pima County Recorder’s office allegedly terminated online voter registration prematurely, potentially disenfranchising many would-be voters.

Hayes Considers Prosecuting Trump:

Attorney General Kris Mayes made national headlines on Friday when she taped the Sunday Square Off with Brahm Resnik. Resnik leaked to the national news that Mayes advised she had discussed with the state Chief of Criminal Investigation whether former President Trump’s recent remarks about Liz Cheney could be considered a death threat under Arizona law.

Abe Hamadeh told the Arizona Globe, “Kris Mayes is once again weaponizing her illegitimate office for political gain, using baseless investigations as a tool to distract and mislead. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt with zero merit solely done to politically interfere in our elections. These radicals must and will be stopped on November 5.”

The top lawyer for the RNC in Arizona, Harmeet Dhillon, posted on X that “There’s nothing to investigate. Mayes has no jurisdiction. This is professional misconduct.”

There’s nothing to investigate
Mayes has no jurisdiction
This is professional misconduct https://t.co/e0aULmYAzm

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) November 1, 2024

Arizona law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor or a Class 6 felony to threaten or intimidate someone. According to Resnik, Mayes’ office is currently examining if Trump’s statements meet the criteria for charges, sparking debate among critics over whether such an investigation is a legitimate legal inquiry or politically motivated.

While in Glendale, Trump was interviewed by Tucker Carlson when he was asked about Liz Cheney supporting Kamala Harris. He responded, “If it were up to her, we’d be in 50 different countries. She’s a radical warhawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, ok? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know, they’re all warhawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, ‘Oh, gee, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.'”

Lawsuit Demanding Disclosure of Improperly Registered Voters:

In October, Merissa Hamilton, chair of the Strong Communities Foundation (also known as EZAZ), filed a lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. The suit sought the release of records identifying approximately 218,000 voters who were improperly registered without providing legally required proof of citizenship due to a glitch in the state’s driver’s license database.

The error impacted individuals who obtained Arizona driver’s licenses before 1996 before the state implemented a citizenship verification mandate for driver’s licenses. When these individuals later updated their licenses, the system incorrectly recorded them as having provided proof of citizenship, allowing their registration as full-access voters without the necessary documentation.

Hamilton’s organization requested the list under Arizona’s public records law, aiming to share it with county recorders and state legislators to ensure the accuracy of voter rolls. Fontes declined to release the information before the November election, citing concerns that disclosing the names could lead to threats and intimidation against the affected voters.

During a hearing in Maricopa Superior Court, Fontes said, “I don’t want blood on my hands,” explaining his reason for not releasing the names. Fontes told the court that legislators would not “act responsibly with that list.”

America First Legal, led by Trump advisor Stephen Miller and Jennifer Wright, the former head of the Arizona Attorney General’s Election Integrity Unit, represented EZAZ.

On October 31, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled that Fontes must release the list of 98,000 voters identified in Richer v Fontes by noon on November 4. The court stipulated that the information be shared only with county recorders and specific state lawmakers, who must sign agreements not to disclose the data to third parties. Additionally, EZAZ members are prohibited from knowingly contacting any voters on the list until after the November 5 election.

VoteBeat, a nonpartisan election reporting organization, had previously reported that the 98,000 Arizona voters’ eligibility is uncertain due to a longstanding error in the state’s registration system. According to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the error was identified just before mail ballots were ready to be mailed. He announced that the issue stems from the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) incorrectly marking some voters as providing U.S. citizenship proof. It only affected those who obtained an Arizona driver’s license before October 1996 and later got a duplicate license before registering to vote post-2004.

Since 2005, Arizona law requires proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections, meaning those without it should be marked as “federal only” voters, eligible to vote only in federal elections. Fontes acknowledged that the issue went unnoticed for nearly 20 years, spanning four state administrations. In response, Governor Katie Hobbs ordered MVD to conduct an independent audit of its systems and correct the problem. Although 98,00 was initially provided as the number of impacted voters, Fontes has indicated that it could be as many as 218,000.

Hamilton told The Arizona Globe that Fontes had indicated he intended to appeal the ruling, to which she added, “I remain confident that we will prevail.”

Pima County Online Voter Registration Closure:

AZ State Senator Justine Wadsack (R-LD17) announced that she is launching an investigation into the Pima County Recorder’s Office following the potential suppression of Arizona voters. According to Wadsack, the Recorder shut down its online vote-by-mail ballot request portal from October 19 to October 25, 2024, due to an overwhelming number of requests and the inability to process them within the 48-hour state-mandated timeframe. Nearly 4,000 voters were notified via email to call the office to complete their requests. However, some potential voters voiced concerns about the process, with one former state lawmaker criticizing the office for suppressing voter access.

The closure came amid delayed ballot mailings, further increasing request volume. Staff worked extensive hours to process calls and fulfill requests, though they did not alert the media about the portal shutdown, believing the email notification sufficed.

Abe Hamadeh, the current Republican candidate for Debbie Lesko’s vacated congressional seat CD8, said, “Election officials feel emboldened to violate the law because there are no consequences by Arizona’s neutered judiciary. Instead, they’re rewarded for their incompetence and corruption.”

Senator Wadsack sent a letter on October 3, 2024, to the Recorder requesting documents and clarification on why this occurred. As of Friday, the Pima Recorder has not responded to Wadsack’s inquiry. Wadsack has been critical of the Pima Recorder, recently posting about the County Recorder’s page bio page on X.

It’s comforting to see such racist rhetoric on our County Recorder’s page bio.

She is in control of our election, with a Presidential candidate her party refers to as Hitler.

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this? pic.twitter.com/p3QbdncyGE

— AZ Senator Justine Wadsack (@Wadsack4Arizona) November 1, 2024

Over the past several election cycles, Arizona has been front-page news over allegations of voting irregularities, voter suppression, and election misconduct. These latest developments do nothing to quell criticisms and distrust by the electorate.

If you are aware of voter fraud or election misconduct, please contact the Arizona Globe at [email protected], Attn: Election Issue.s