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Court slaps down Arizona Dem official who fearmongered about 'violent' Trump supporters in voter ID case
A county judge excoriated the Democrat secretary of state of Arizona for arguing that supporters of former President Donald Trump would become violent and endanger Arizonans who did not provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.The issue stems from a decades-old error in the Arizona system that erroneously denoted that drivers who applied for a license renewal after 2004 had provided proof of U.S. citizenship when applying for their first license sometime before 1997, Blaze News previously reported. As those residents never actually provided documented proof of citizenship, which is required to vote in state and local elections, they should be issued federal-only ballots in 2024, Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, argued in mid-September.Initially, reports indicated that about 98,000 residents between the ages of 45 and 60 from all across the state of Arizona were affected. A few weeks later, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) discovered that the number was actually closer to 218,000.'The Defendants further proffered no evidence that EZAZ.org has ever weaponized information to harass or intimidate voters ... singled out voting locations to protest or harass voters, or subjected voters to threats.'At the time, Fontes claimed that the issue was discovered too close to the election and would affect mainly Republican-leaning voters. The state supreme court ultimately agreed and determined in late September that these registrants could vote in federal, state, and local elections in 2024.However, Fontes changed his tune after America First Legal, a legal group with strong ties to Trump, sued on behalf of EZAZ.org, a right-leaning nonprofit, to demand that Fontes release the list of affected residents as a matter of public record.On Monday, Fontes and his attorneys argued before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney that releasing the list would subject the listed residents to violence and intimidation from EZAZ.org associates and other Trump supporters. The defense even enlisted the help of Prof. Robert Pape — a radical leftist obsessed with "White Rural Rage" and January 6 — as an expert witness. According to Blaney's ruling, issued on Thursday, Pape's testimony was egregiously biased against Trump supporters, focusing "almost entirely on allegations of past and anticipated prospective violence from only one side of the political spectrum, and only related to former president Donald Trump."Because Pape's opinions were so one-sided and were effectively based solely on "national statistics" and on "speculation" about possible "violence and harassment," Blaney said he gave them "only minimal weight."Pape was not the only one to denigrate Trump supporters during the hearing. Fontes also basically testified that he wanted to withhold releasing the voter registration records if doing so "could save just one life," despite a "lack of any evidence that any individual’s life was in danger," Blaney recalled"Secretary Fontes argued that providing the list of 218,000 Affected Voters would necessarily lead to violence – even sure death – of one or more Affected Voters, even if this Court specifically ordered that EZAZ.org could only distribute the list of Affected Voters to county recorders, leadership for the Arizona state legislature, and the Arizona Senate and House Elections Committee," Blaney wrote. "The Secretary’s claims were not credible and not supported by evidence.""The Defendants further proffered no evidence that EZAZ.org has ever weaponized information to harass or intimidate voters, conducted mass voter challenges, singled out voting locations to protest or harass voters, or subjected voters to threats," Blaney added.Between the specious argument that residents on the list of affected registrants were somehow in danger and the fact that Secretary Fontes admitted on the stand that his office has access to these records through the registration database and that "his office routinely responds to and releases copies" of the database to third parties, Judge Blaney sided with plaintiffs EZAZ.org and AFL.Fontes and his office now have until Monday to release to EZAZ.org the original list of the 98,000 affected residents and any identifying information about the other 120,000 registrants on the full list as well as datasets and communications between various government agencies about the issue. Defendants must also cover the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees and costs.Plaintiffs have been ordered not to canvass or contact any of the voters on the list. They also may not release any personally identifiable information about any voter on the list prior to Wednesday, the day after the election.In a press release, AFL called the ruling "critically important to the integrity of the upcoming presidential election.""When Secretary Fontes discovered the glitch that allowed 218,000 individuals to register without providing proof of citizenship, he should have immediately shared the list of affected individuals with Arizona’s county recorders, who are in charge of verifying the citizenship of voters. Instead, he has jealously guarded the list, refusing to share it with anyone," said a statement from James Rogers, America First Legal senior counsel. "It is unfortunate that Secretary Fontes so aggressively opposed our common-sense efforts to help restore trust in our state’s election system. This was a case we never should have needed to file.""A majority of Arizonans no longer trust the election system of our state. One of the reasons is the lack of transparency from our state’s elected officials," Rogers added."This suit was about restoring transparency and ensuring that county recorders can do their jobs by verifying the citizenship of voters."Fontes' office did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
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