Republican Arizona Rep. Kelly Townsend has pointed out that there are 14,099 Federal-only voters in Maricopa County alone, who are unable to establish their US citizenship, but still can vote in Federal elections.
The number of potential non-citizen voters is higher than Biden’s lead in the state.
Currently, Joe Biden is leading the state with 1,657,621 votes, while President Donald Trump is 12,828 votes behind.
There are 14,099 Federal only voters in Maricopa County alone, who are unable to establish their US citizenship, but still can vote in Federal elections. pic.twitter.com/cOZVz8aHfs
— Senator-Elect Kelly Townsend (@KellyTownsend11) November 12, 2020
A Federal-only ballot is an option for people in Arizona who don’t provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote.
Rep. Townsend has been warning about the danger of federal-only voters since at least October. She is responsible for passing a bill forcing the publishing of the numbers to make sure no elections are lost because of it.
Does @realDonaldTrump know about "Federal Only" voters in #AZ who can't prove citizenship but can vote in fed elections? 12,931 in Maricopa Co., which will carry AZ. I passed a bill forcing the publishing of these numbers so that we can see if an election was lost because of it. pic.twitter.com/iNGVtmy9Of
— Senator-Elect Kelly Townsend (@KellyTownsend11) October 11, 2020
“State law requires people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, which voters approved as Proposition 200 in 2004. But the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires states to accept federal voter registration forms, which don’t have a proof-of-citizenship requirement, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Arizona can’t reject those forms, despite the disparity between state and federal law on the issue,” the Arizona Mirror explained in a 2019 article. “As a result, then-Secretary of State Ken Bennett implemented a dual-registration system in which people who don’t show proof of citizenship can still register to vote in Arizona, but are only eligible to vote in federal races.”
Federal-only voting has been a controversial issue as Republicans contend that non-citizens should not be allowed to side-step the law and vote.