No.
Though Arizona has approximately 50,000 registered voters who haven’t submitted the documents required to prove citizenship—limiting them to voting in federal elections—these voters have not been shown to be noncitizens. Most are presumed to be U.S. citizens who were unable to provide a birth certificate, passport or similar form of verification upon registration.
The noncitizen voter claim misrepresents a recent legal settlement that stemmed from a lawsuit alleging election officials from Arizona’s 15 counties were not using all available means to verify voters’ citizenship status. As part of the settlement, county officials agreed to ask the Department of Homeland Security about additional ways to authenticate the citizenship of the state’s nearly 50,000 federal-only voters.
Arizona law requires documentary proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections. Federal-only voters have attested that they are U.S. citizens under threat of perjury, as required by federal law.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, Maricopa County Recorder Settles Lawsuit and Takes Action to Ensure Election Integrity
- Maricopa County, Board Approves Settlement Regarding Federal-Only Voters
- America First Legal, VICTORY — Following AFL’s Lawsuit, All 15 Counties in Arizona Now Taking Action to Remove Illegal Aliens from Voter Rolls in Major Win for Election Integrity
- Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Does Arizona require proof of citizenship for state elections but not federal elections?
- Votebeat, News report feeds false claim about 50,000 noncitizens on Arizona voter rolls
- Brennan Center, Noncitizen Voting is Vanishingly Rare
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona Vs. Stephen Richer et al, Complaint
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Notice of Dismissal, Mohave County
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Notice of Dismissal, Yavapai County
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Notice of Dismissal, Remaining Plaintiffs