A database “error” in the swing state of Arizona will allow hundreds of thousands to vote in elections this year even though they didn’t provide proper proof of citizenship as Arizona law demands.
The initial number of voters caught in up the “error” was just less than a hundred thousand:
Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Voters can demonstrate citizenship by providing a driver’s license or tribal ID number, or they can attach a copy of a birth certificate, passport or naturalization documents.
Arizona considers drivers’ licenses issued after October 1996 to be valid proof of citizenship. However, a system coding error marked nearly 98,000 voters who obtained licenses before 1996 — roughly 2.5% of all registered voters — as full-ballot voters, state officials said.
The error between the state’s voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division has since been resolved.
That number of votes could tip the scales in hotly contested races for the state Legislature, where Republicans hold a slim majority in both chambers.
That number has since more than doubled to over 218,000 caught up in the state’s “error”:
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The Arizona Supreme Court said that since this coding “error” wasn’t the fault of those who thought they provided proper proof of citizenship, they must still be allowed to vote.
But as many of us worry, this doesn’t look good for fair elections. But with the high court’s ruling, I don’t know that anything can be done about this.
