Recorder's office blames vendor after thousands of voters were incorrectly flagged

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18 hours ago

The Brief
Thousands of Maricopa County voters were incorrectly notified their voting rights were jeopardized due to an error, requiring them to provide proof of citizenship within 90 days for local elections.
The county blames a vendor for the mix-up, while the current recorder remains unavailable for comment, drawing criticism from his predecessor regarding leadership and communication.
PHOENIX - We're learning more about a big mistake connected to the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.
The backstory
Thousands of voters were told incorrectly that their voting rights were in jeopardy, and now they have to fix the problem themselves.
Voters will have 90 days to send back documented proof of citizenship to be able to vote in local elections.
They were sent a letter asking if they had moved, then were told to provide documentation and proof of citizenship.
Turns out, it was all an error.
FOX 10 reached out to the Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap multiple times for an interview. He's still unavailable for comment, but on Friday, June 27, the county recorder's office acknowledged the error, blaming a third-party vendor.
What they're saying
The former county recorder, Stephen Richer, explains two lists got mixed up.
"The letter they were supposed to receive pertains to that special group of people who still need to provide proof of citizenship because the MVD had thought they had been grandfathered into the document to proof of citizenship requirement, but they actually haven't and that was discovered last year. I don't know why the recorder's office is starting on it now," Richer said.
He acknowledged mistakes happen, but said Heap not taking the interview himself "cowardice in the extreme and piss poor leadership. Never in a million years would have done that."
Voters are still left with questions.
"The cherry on the parfait is, according to the county recorder's office, I can still vote in federal elections, but I can't vote in local and state elections. So I'm a citizen of the federal government, but I'm not a citizen of Arizona? How does that make any sense?" a voter said.
It's still unclear if every person who received the first letter in error will receive the second letter and have to provide proof of citizenship.
What's next
FOX 10 will continue to reach out to county recorder Heap to set the record straight.