Arizona officials sue Maricopa County recorder to reinstate 25 wrongly flagged noncitizen voters

Lawsuit filed one day before early ballot request deadline

By LineZotpaper

Published23 October 2026

Read Time3 min

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes have filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, seeking to force him to reinstate the voting rights of 25 Arizona voters who were falsely flagged as noncitizens by a federal database. The lawsuit, filed on October 22, comes one day before the deadline for voters to request an early ballot for the November 3 general election.

The legal action centers on Heap's use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, a tool recently overhauled by the Trump administration to detect noncitizens registered to vote. The database has been found to produce false positives, flagging U.S. citizens as noncitizens.

According to the lawsuit, Heap used SAVE to identify 207 voters he deemed likely noncitizens and forwarded information on them to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office (MCAO) earlier this year. Of those, 60 had cast ballots, and Heap moved those voters to a "non eligible" category, effectively canceling their registrations unless they provided documented proof of citizenship before the next election.

A review by MCAO found that only eight of the 60 were actually noncitizens, and no more than three ever voted in the same election. The Attorney General's Office made similar findings. Despite this, 25 of those 60 voters, whose citizenship was verified by both MCAO and the AG's Office, remain unable to vote.

"Absent this Court's prompt intervention, the twenty-five Affected Voters will be illegally denied their right to vote in the November 3, 2026 general election," the two Democrats wrote in the lawsuit. "The Recorder has refused to voluntarily undertake his statutory duty, so must be ordered to do so."

Heap's office called the lawsuit "partisan political theater" and claimed that MCAO had advised his office to cancel the registrations. The Recorder's Office said it placed the voters in a suspended registration status requiring proof of citizenship "to give them every possible opportunity to vote a full ballot."

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell refuted Heap's characterization. "The Maricopa County Attorney's Office follows the law," Mitchell said in a press release. "Therefore, contrary to the Maricopa County Recorder's October 22nd press release, we never advised the Recorder to cancel the registration of voters." Mitchell added that Arizona law does not allow for any sort of suspended category while under investigation and does not permit the County Attorney to stand in for the Recorder in gathering proof of citizenship.

The lawsuit argues that Heap violated state law by canceling registrations before voters were proven to be noncitizens and that his office has not responded to letters and requests from the AG. The plaintiffs are asking the court to order Heap to reinstate the voters, prevent him from requiring them to vote provisional ballots, and ensure that any provisional ballots cast by these voters are not rejected based on the "not eligible" status.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday morning.

Analysis

Why This Matters

25 verified U.S. citizens face disenfranchisement just days before the early ballot request deadline.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about the accuracy and use of the SAVE database, which has a history of false flags.
The outcome could set a precedent for how election officials handle disputed voter registrations flagged by federal databases.

Background

The SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database, operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is used by government agencies to verify immigration status. The Trump administration expanded its use to cross-check voter rolls. Critics say the system is prone to errors, particularly for naturalized citizens or individuals with similar names. Maricopa County, Arizona's most populous county, has been a focal point of election controversies in recent years.

Key Perspectives

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes: They argue that Heap unlawfully canceled the registrations of voters who are clearly U.S. citizens, and that he must follow state law requiring him to restore their status. They emphasize that the law does not allow a suspended category while under investigation and that the Registrar must provide a provisional ballot.

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap: Heap's office maintains the voters are taking action based on a database that exists to identify noncitizens. He characterizes the lawsuit as "partisan political theater" and says they acted based on advice from MCAO.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell: Mitchell insists her office never advised Heap to cancel registrations, and that state law does not permit the course of action Heap took. She said: "This is not my opinion. This is not a made-up process. This is the law."

What to Watch

The Friday hearing and whether the court orders immediate reinstatement of the 25 voters.
Whether any of the impacted voters are able to cast ballots in the November 3 election.
Future use of the SAVE database and potential reforms to prevent similar disenfranchisement.

Sources

Mayes, Fontes sue Maricopa recorder to restore voting rights of 25 wrongly flagged as noncitizens · Arizona Mirror

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 9 supported.

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SupportedThe Arizona attorney general and secretary of state sued Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap to restore the voting rights of 25 people falsely flagged as noncitizens.Arizona Mirror: “Arizona’s top election official and attorney general are asking a judge to force Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap to reinstate the voting rights of 25 people who were falsely flagged as noncitizens by a database created by the Trump administration.”
Partly supportedThe lawsuit was filed on October 22, one day before the early-ballot request deadline.Arizona Mirror: “The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, comes the day before the deadline for voters to request an early ballot. Voters have until Oct. 23 to request an early ballot. ... in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.”
SupportedMayes and Fontes wrote, “Absent this Court's prompt intervention, the twenty-five Affected Voters will be illegally denied their right to vote in the November 3, 2026 general election,” and “The Recorder has refused to voluntarily undertake his statutory duty, so must be ordered to do so.”Arizona Mirror: ““Absent this Court’s prompt intervention, the twenty-five Affected Voters will be illegally denied their right to vote in the November 3, 2026 general election,” the two Democrats wrote in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. “The Recorder has refused to voluntarily undertake his statutory duty, so must be ordered to do so.””
Partly supportedThe SAVE database is a federal database recently overhauled by the Trump administration to detect noncitizens registered to vote.Arizona Mirror: “At the heart of the matter is the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, or SAVE, a tool that has been overhauled by the Trump administration to look for instances of non-citizens registered to vote.”
SupportedThe database has been found to falsely flag U.S. citizens as noncitizens.Arizona Mirror: “It has been found to falsely flag U.S. citizens as non-citizens.”
SupportedHeap used SAVE to flag 207 voters he said were likely noncitizens and sent their information to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office earlier that year.Arizona Mirror: “Heap used the database and flagged 207 voters he said were likely noncitizens, sending those voters information to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office earlier this year.”
Partly supportedOf the 207, 60 had cast ballots and Heap moved them to “non eligible”; this effectively canceled their registrations unless they provided proof of citizenship before the next election.Arizona Mirror: “Of those 207 flagged, 60 had cast ballots and Heap moved those voters to the “non eligible” category, according to the lawsuit. That designation means that, unless those voters provide documented proof of citizenship before the next election, they will be unable to vote.”
SupportedMCAO found only eight of the 60 were noncitizens, and no more than three had voted in the same election.Arizona Mirror: “However, a review of those 60 voters by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office found that only eight of them were actually noncitizens, and no more than three ever voted in the same election.”
SupportedTwenty-five of the 60 voters whose citizenship was verified by both MCAO and the AG’s Office remain unable to vote in this year’s election.Arizona Mirror: “Now, 25 of those 60 who had their voter registration canceled — but whose citizenship was verified by both MCAO and the AG’s Office — are unable to vote in this year’s election, according to the complaint.”
SupportedHeap’s office called the lawsuit “partisan political theater” and claimed MCAO advised it to cancel the registrations.Arizona Mirror: “Heap’s office called the lawsuit “partisan political theater” and claimed the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office advised his office to cancel the registrations.”
SupportedThe Recorder’s Office said it placed the voters in suspended registration status to give them every possible opportunity to vote a full ballot.Arizona Mirror: “The Recorder’s Office said it chose to place them in a suspended registration status requiring them to provide proof of citizenship “to give them every possible opportunity to vote a full ballot.””
SupportedRachel Mitchell said MCAO follows the law and had never advised the Recorder to cancel voters’ registrations.Arizona Mirror: ““The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office follows the law,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a press release. “Therefore, contrary to the Maricopa County Recorder’s October 22nd press release, we never advised the Recorder to cancel the registration of voters.””