On Wednesday, America First Legal (AFL) filed an amended lawsuit against all 15 counties in Arizona – Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai, and Yuma – for failing to take action to remove foreign citizens from their voter rolls.
On July 16, AFL sent letters on behalf of its clients demanding that election officials in all 15 Arizona counties fulfill their legal obligations to prevent aliens from voting and warning them that if they failed to do so, AFL would pursue legal action on behalf of its clients.
On August 5, 2024, AFL sued the Maricopa County Recorder on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, known as EZAZ.org, and Yvonne Cahill, a registered voter and naturalized citizen, for brazenly refusing to comply with the law. The claims in the lawsuit were based on Arizona state laws that require county recorders to do monthly voter list maintenance to remove foreign citizens from voter rolls. Nevertheless, Maricopa County removed the case to federal court, arguing that the case also involved federal laws that, in the county’s view, should be interpreted in federal court. Maricopa County is notorious for employing procedural maneuvers to delay election cases and keep them from being heard on the merits. However, Maricopa County’s attempts here have backfired. Arizona state court rules only allow for one county to be sued in a case like this, whereas federal court rules allow a plaintiff to sue more than one county at a time.
Now that AFL’s clients are in federal court, AFL added the other 14 counties in Arizona to the lawsuit to ensure that every county in the state is compelled to fulfill its statutory duties.
Two federal statutes that have been in effect for nearly thirty years, 8 U.S.C. § 1373(c) and 8 U.S.C. § 1644, allow State and local officials to obtain information about the citizenship or immigration status of any individual for any lawful purpose. Yet, counties in Arizona have decided to ignore these tools and threaten the integrity of the 2024 Presidential election by failing to remove foreign nationals from their voter rolls.
Statement from Stephen Miller, America First Legal President:
“We are taking emergency action to secure our elections. In addition to Maricopa, we are now suing 14 additional counties in Arizona for refusing to remove illegal aliens and non-citizens from their voter rolls. America First Legal will do everything in its power to fight mass illegal alien voting and foreign interference in our democracy.” said Stephen Miller.
Read the amended complaint here.
