Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona Inc. v. Adrian Fontes, Arizona Department of State

Problem:

A flaw in Arizona’s Motor Vehicles Division and Secretary of State’s Office allowed tens of thousands of people to register to vote without providing the required documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC), even though voters must provide such proof before voting in state and local elections. Initially, almost 98,000 registered voters were incorrectly marked as having citizenship, which Arizona’s Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes, revised to over 218,000 individuals. Arizona law mandates that county recorders conduct monthly investigations of every voter who has failed to provide DPOC. However, Fontes refused to share the list of 218,000 voters with county recorders to allow them to investigate these individuals, and Fontes refused to perform any investigations himself. AFL filed a public records request on behalf of its client, asking Fontes to produce the list of every individual registered to vote without DPOC. When Fontes refused to comply, AFL filed suit against him and the Arizona Department of State.