The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors agreed on Thursday to settle a lawsuit filed by America First Legal (AFL) against Maricopa County over failing to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls. The lawsuit, which was also filed against other counties, asked the court to order county recorders to comply.
The settlement will have Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap work with the Department of Homeland Security to verify the citizenship status of federal-only voters, who were given that status since they failed to provide documented proof of citizenship (DPOC) when they registered to vote. The four Republican supervisors voted in favor of the settlement, while lone Democrat Steve Gallardo voted no.
Merissa Hamilton of The Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona (SCFA), the plaintiff, praised the “major victory” on X. “This step is also in alignment with @realDonaldTrump’s election integrity executive order to ensure only legal citizens can vote in our elections,” she said. “It will also enfranchise citizen voters since once verified by DHS, they will be able to vote the full ballot rather than a Federal-only ballot. Under the previous Recorder, the list of voters who haven’t proven citizenship grew by 41% in 15 months because he was prohibiting proper list maintenance with DHS resources.”
In a follow-up post, Hamilton added, “This case originally started in July of 2024. It only took getting a new Recorder for the County to follow the law!”
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