WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, 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.