A conservative group is suing the most populated county in Arizona to kick non-citizens off its voter rolls — as concerns mount among GOPers that the illegal registrations could affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
America First Legal filed suit against Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, on Monday, alleging he has not complied with state and federal law in conducting monthly reviews of local voter rolls and comparing that information with databases that could verify citizenship.
“America First Legal is leading the charge to keep illegal aliens from voting in 2024,” said the group’s president, Stephen Miller, in a statement.
“Maricopa County, in direct violation of state law, is refusing to remove illegal alien voters from the rolls.”
James Rogers, a senior counsel for America First Legal, added, “Arizona has adopted first-in-the-nation laws to help make sure foreigners can’t and to also ensure that foreigners already on the voter rolls are removed.
“Yet those laws have no impact if Arizona’s county recorders ignore them.”
The group’s legal filing pointed to a Rasmussen Reports survey last month that found slightly more than 1% of likely general election voters admit to being non-citizens in Arizona — as well as at least five other battleground states.
“Many recent elections in Arizona have been decided by margins of less than 1 percent,” Rogers said. “It is reasonable for Arizonans to be concerned. This lawsuit is about helping to restore the public’s trust by making sure that election officials follow the law and that foreigners are not able to influence the outcome of our elections.”
A rep for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment.
Arizona is one of at least 46 states that does not require documentary proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms, which must be provided to applicants at welfare benefit offices, according to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The forms are also handed out at offices such as the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
The form only asks for a signature when asked about US citizenship, under penalty of perjury.
More than half of non-citizens, 59%, take advantage of at least one major federal welfare benefit, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies.
Arizona is one of five states — along with Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Virginia — that claim to already be coordinating with US Citizenship and Immigration Services through memoranda of understanding to verify the citizenship status of voter registration applicants.
The agency uses its own identification system, including Form I-94 arrival or departure numbers, Student and Exchange Visitor Information System ID numbers, naturalization cards, visa numbers and foreign passport numbers, but none of these are required on the voter registration forms provided under the NVRA.
Though it is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, recent investigations and state audits have found thousands of foreign nationals nevertheless registering and hundreds eventually casting ballots in races — including in critical swing states that could decide the 2024 election.
The America First suit was brought on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and a registered voter in Maricopa County, Yvonne Cahill, who has donated to former President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates in the past, according to FEC filings.
The lawsuit comes after America First sent other letters to officials in all 50 states calling on them to clean up their voter rolls by using Department of Homeland Security data to bar non-citizens from registering to vote or cast ballots in elections.
The GOP-controlled US House of Representatives passed a bill in July that would force states to receive proof of citizenship before registering people to vote — but the measure is not expected to be taken up for a vote in the Democrat-run US Senate.
