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The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office mailed about 83,000 voters an incorrect letter warning them that they would be moved to the inactive voter list if they didn’t respond, a mistake the Recorder’s Office blamed on a printing error.
The voters, roughly 3% of the total registered voters in Maricopa County, were supposed to receive a different letter entirely, according to Sam Stone, chief of staff in the Recorder’s Office.
The letter’s recipients were incorrectly told that the Recorder’s Office had received notification from the Arizona Department of Transportation that they had obtained a driver’s license in a different state. The voters were also told they would be moved to the inactive voter list if they didn’t respond within 90 days.
These voters will not be moved to the inactive voter list, Stone confirmed.
The owner of the print shop could not immediately be reached for comment.
The voters were supposed to be sent a letter telling them that they are among those caught in a state error and will need to provide their proof of citizenship in order to continue to be able to vote a full ballot.
Under state law, Arizona voters must provide citizenship proof to vote in state and local elections. But the state announced last summer that they had not collected the citizenship proof from about 200,000 voters statewide. Some Arizona counties have started notifying these voters in the mail of the need to prove their citizenship, and Maricopa County’s mailing was supposed to do so as well.
It’s unclear when the correct letter will be sent to the affected voters.
Jen Fifield is a reporter for Votebeat based in Arizona. Contact Jen at jfifield@votebeat.org.
