Southwest
Arizona to verify up to 50K people from voter rolls who failed to prove citizenship
EXCLUSIVE: All 15 Arizona counties have now begun the process of verifying and removing voters from their voter rolls, including nearly 50,000 registrants who did not provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
“This settlement is a great result for all Arizonans,” America First Legal (AFL) senior counsel James Rogers told Fox News Digital after his organization’s successful lawsuit spearheaded the process in Arizona.
AFL filed the lawsuit against the 15 Arizona counties last year on behalf of EZAZ.org, and Yvonne Cahill, a registered voter and naturalized citizen, arguing that the counties had not been following a state law that requires proof of citizenship to vote in local and state elections and for the state to do monthly checks of the rolls for registrants who did not check the box confirming citizenship.
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Arizona law requires proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections. (David Jennings/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)
As a result of the lawsuit, the 15 counties have now begun working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify the citizenship status of all registered voters in the state who failed to provide proof of citizenship.
While a 2013 Supreme Court ruling prohibits states from imposing voter registration requirements beyond the federal requirement that registrants must check a box affirming their U.S. citizenship, Arizona residents are still required to provide proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections.
The Arizona law also requires that county recorders perform a monthly list maintenance to confirm the U.S. citizenship of so-called “federal-only voters,” a list of nearly 50,000 individuals who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship and were not allowed to vote in state or local elections.
Voting rolls in Arizona will soon be cleared of noncitizens. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images)
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Registrants confirmed to be citizens are then moved to the regular list while those found to be noncitizens are required to have their registration canceled.
But AFL argued in the lawsuit that county recorders had not been utilizing the resources available to them to help verify citizenship status, something the Arizona law requires them to do. As a result, all 15 counties have now sent requests to DHS in order to assist their efforts to clear the voter rolls of noncitizens.
Phoenix, Arizona, skyline at sunset (Lightvision, LLC via Getty Images)
“This will help County Recorders find and remove any aliens on their voter rolls,” Rogers said. “It will also potentially enfranchise federal-only voters whose citizenship is confirmed, which would allow them to vote in state and local elections. AFL congratulates each of Arizona’s 15 county recorders for taking this bold and important step for election integrity in the state.”
Editor’s note:
This story has been updated to reflect that the AZ voters on the rolls under examination did not prove their citizenship at the time of registration.
Read the full article from Here
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Jurors deliberating the fate of the man accused of starting the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history, failed to reach a verdict Thursday afternoon, telling the judge they were deadlocked.
A spokesperson from the United States Attorney’s Office told KTLA that jurors will continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict or give up.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver and one-time Pacific Palisades resident, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire continued to smolder underground for about a week, even after Los Angeles firefighters believed it had been extinguished.
Flames reignited on Jan. 7, erupting into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the upscale community, authorities said.
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A courtroom sketch of Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, during his initial court appearance on Oct. 23, 2025. (Bill Robles) -
The U.S. Dept. of Justice booking photo of Jonathan Rinderknecht over the Palisades Fire devastation in Malibu, California in January 2025 (AP).
Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht deliberately set the fire, claiming he had grown increasingly resentful of wealthy residents and viewed Pacific Palisades as a symbol of that frustration.
“Their case, though circumstantial, is strong,” KTLA legal analyst Alison Triessl said. “The defense is relying on, can they (prosecutors) show beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rinderknecht actually started this fire and it wasn’t the result of fireworks or some intervening cause.”
The defense argued there is no direct physical evidence tying Rinderknecht to the fire and said the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence. Rinderknecht did not testify during the trial.
Defense attorney Steve Haney spoke outside the courthouse Wednesday about why he believes it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove how the fire started.
“The lack of scene preservation. The fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing. Not a lot of direct evidence. This is a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove,” Haney said.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested and indicted last October, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of three arson counts, including destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Tony Kurzweil contributed to this report
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