Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sued the Maricopa County Recorder's Office on Wednesday, asking a court to restore the voting rights of 25 county voters who were falsely flagged as noncitizens by a federal data tool earlier this year, Votebeat reported. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes joined in seeking the court order, according to Focal News.
Mayes, a Democrat, alleges that Recorder Justin Heap, a Republican, has kept the voters in “not eligible” status on the county voter roll even after county investigators found they are U.S. citizens. Voters in that status remain on the rolls but may not receive mail ballots and must show proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote, Votebeat reported.
“Time is of the essence in this matter that involves the voting rights of twenty-five Maricopa County voters who will be denied their right to vote in the 2026 general election absent relief from this Court,” Mayes wrote in the suit, which also asks for an injunction barring Heap from preventing the voters from casting a ballot. With voting already underway, she is asking a judge to order that the voters be fully reinstated and mailed ballots immediately.
Seventeen of the 25 voters are on Arizona's Active Early Voting List and should have received ballots earlier this month, and one is registered as a military or overseas voter, according to the lawsuit as reported by Focal News. The complaint says the recorder's office had updated the records of 27 of the 52 citizens identified by investigators, but does not explain why the remaining records were not changed.
How the voters were flagged
The case stretches back to the spring, when Heap referred 207 potential noncitizens registered to vote to county and state prosecutors for review; 60 of them had previously cast ballots. He identified them while trying to confirm the citizenship status of 61,681 voters affected by a longstanding state record-keeping error, using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) tool, which Votebeat noted has repeatedly proven unreliable.
After an investigation, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, a Republican, announced last month that only eight of the 60 voters who had cast ballots were actually noncitizens and that the remaining 52 were U.S. citizens. Another 147 voters referred to prosecutors remain under investigation. Earlier this week, the attorney general's criminal division chief wrote that 24 of the 52 cleared citizens were still marked ineligible and warned of a lawsuit; the suit says the number is now 25, after one voter was reinstated and two more were found still flagged.
A spokesperson for the recorder's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Votebeat reported.
Maricopa County is Arizona's largest county and includes Phoenix. The voters at the centre of the lawsuit are confirmed U.S. citizens whose ability to vote by mail in the November 3 general election depends on whether the court acts before ballots can still be sent.
What is solid
- Attorney General Kris Mayes sued the Maricopa County Recorder's Office on Wednesday seeking reinstatement of 25 voters — Votebeat and Focal News.
- County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced last month that 52 of the 60 ballot-casting voters investigated were U.S. citizens and eight were noncitizens — Votebeat.
- The 25 voters remain in “not eligible” status, which can block mail ballots and requires proof of citizenship before voting — the lawsuit, via Votebeat and Focal News.
What is only claimed
- Mayes alleges Heap has no basis to keep the voters flagged; the recorder's office had not publicly responded in the reports reviewed.
- Whether the court will order the reinstatements before the November 3 election is undecided.