Just the News has a story out from overnight that reveals how nearly 5,700 ballots were cast in Arizona’s 2020 election without proof of US citizenship.
They explain that Arizona is this only state with ‘bifurcated’ elections, which means anyone who registers to vote without proof of citizenship are only allowed to vote in federal elections.
The story has a lot of legalese but I’ll try and boil it down for you:
More than 5,600 federal-only ballots were cast in the 2020 presidential election in Arizona, without proof of U.S. citizenship required by the voters who cast them, according to data from the state’s counties.
Arizona is a state with the unusual situation of bifurcated elections, in which residents who provide proof of U.S. citizenship can vote in all elections while the others may vote only in federal elections, resulting in ballots cast by voters who haven’t proven their U.S. citizenship.
Arizona law requires residents registering to vote in the state to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
However, after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Arizona must accept U.S. voter registration forms because of federal requirements under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, the state allows residents registering to vote who don’t provide proof of citizenship to receive ballots for federal races only.
The state tried to fix this problem in 2022 with a new law requiring that federal-only voters be citizens. But guess who sued them because of this new law? The Biden administration:
Last year, Arizona enacted a law that requires counties to check federal-only voters for citizenship against multiple databases. The counties must reject any federal applications if they find the individual is not a U.S. citizen, and any official knowingly ignoring the requirement could receive a felony charge.
The Justice Department sued Arizona over the law in July 2022, claiming it is “a textbook violation of the National Voter Registration Act,” according to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the agency’s Civil Rights Division. The agency also claims the law violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Well over half of the ballots that suggested Biden won the state were these federal-only ballots in which non-citizens were voting:
At least 5,697 federal-only ballots were cast in the 2020 presidential election in Arizona, most of which came from Maricopa County. Only some of the counties specified as to whether all the federal-only ballots cast were also accepted.
The 2020 presidential election results showed former President Donald Trump with 10,457 votes less than President Joe Biden in the state.
If I read the article right, there could be even more of these ballots but JTN was unable to get access to two counties.