How many Arizonans were unable to vote in the general election because they were purged from the rolls over out-of-date addresses that stemmed from violations of federal voting laws? State elections officials told The Arizona Republic this week that they had no way of knowing because there is no process to track voters affected by the routine removals. The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office knew before Tuesday’s election that the registrations of about 390,000 Arizonans since November 2016 were not automatically updated when they changed the address on their driver’s licenses — a requirement under the National Voting Registration Act of 1993, unless a voter opts out of such updates. Some of those voters might, however, have cast provisional ballots, which can be counted if elections officials determine after the fact that they are legitimate. As of Friday, an estimated 50,000 provisional ballots have been cast across Arizona with an additional 11,000 out-of-precinct ballots from Maricopa County voting centers. This estimate does not include Mojave and Gila counties, which haven’t released data yet.
Arizona elections officials say they have known for at least a decade that the state’s voter-registration system doesn’t comply with the federal law designed to protect voters when officials purge the rolls. Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which has sued the state, say Arizona has likely never fully met the requirements of federal voting-rights laws, specifically the NVRA.
A Republic analysis found nearly 1.1 million Maricopa County residents had been purged from the voter rolls since the 2008 election, and about half were removed after mail from the elections department was returned undelivered — typically signaling the person has moved — triggering additional notices and a waiting period before removal.
Full Article: How many Arizonans couldn’t vote because they were purged?.