Election security is everything to a democracy. Without secure and fair elections, it will all fall apart.
That’s why the Republican Party’s sued Arizona for blatantly keeping a voter fraud loophole open.
Republican Lawsuit Challenges Arizona Voting Law
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) have initiated legal action against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to contest a state law that permits certain non-residents to vote in Arizona’s federal elections. The lawsuit, filed on June 30, 2025, targets a 2005 statute allowing U.S. citizens who have never lived in Arizona, but whose parents are registered Arizona voters, to cast mail-in ballots in federal elections. This provision stems from the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) but is argued to violate Arizona’s constitutional requirement that only state residents can vote in its elections.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley emphasized the importance of maintaining electoral integrity, stating that Arizona’s elections should be determined solely by its residents. He accused the law of enabling non-residents to influence state outcomes, describing it as an unconstitutional overreach that undermines the rights of Arizona voters. The RNC’s legal challenge seeks to have the law declared invalid and to ensure that voter registration forms for overseas voters clearly specify that only those who have resided in Arizona are eligible to vote.
AZGOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda echoed Whatley’s sentiments, asserting that only those who call Arizona home should have a say in its elections. The lawsuit argues that the 2005 law, despite being passed unanimously by a Republican-controlled legislature, creates an unfair advantage by allowing non-residents—potentially favoring one political party—to participate in Arizona’s electoral process. The case has been filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, with no hearing date yet scheduled.
Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest, has faced scrutiny for its slow vote-counting processes, often taking days or weeks to finalize election results. This issue has fueled concerns about election administration in the state. Additionally, Governor Katie Hobbs, who previously served as Secretary of State, vetoed a 2025 bill that aimed to adopt Florida’s more streamlined election and ballot-counting procedures, further intensifying debates over Arizona’s electoral practices.
The lawsuit reflects a growing national focus on election integrity, as evidenced by recent Department of Justice actions. In June 2025, the DOJ sued Orange County, California, Registrar Robert Page for failing to provide records showing efforts to remove non-citizens from voter rolls, alleging non-compliance with federal voter list maintenance laws. A similar lawsuit was filed against North Carolina for alleged violations of federal voter registration regulations, highlighting heightened scrutiny of voter roll accuracy across states.
Rising Concerns Over Election Fraud and Notable Cases
The RNC’s lawsuit in Arizona is part of a wave of concern about election integrity, particularly following the 2020 presidential election, where claims of voter fraud gained significant traction. While widespread fraud has been repeatedly debunked, isolated cases of voter fraud and election meddling have been documented, fueling public and political debates. Arizona, a battleground state, has been a focal point for such concerns due to its close elections and high-profile controversies.
One prominent issue in Arizona involved a 2024 discovery of a voter registration flaw affecting nearly 98,000 voters. Due to a coding error in the state’s driver’s license database, these voters—mostly Republicans—were not required to provide proof of citizenship as mandated by a 2004 law for state and local elections. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes filed lawsuits to clarify whether these voters could cast full ballots. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in September 2024 that they could vote in all races, provided they attested to their citizenship, highlighting the complexity of voter verification systems.
In another Arizona case, Tracey Kay McKee, a Scottsdale resident, was convicted in 2020 for illegal voting after casting a ballot in her deceased mother’s name during the general election. McKee, a registered Republican, pleaded guilty to a felony charge, receiving two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and over $2,000 in fines.
Similarly, Randy Allen Jumper was convicted in Arizona for duplicate voting in the 2016 election. Jumper cast absentee ballots in both Arizona and Nevada, pleading guilty to attempted illegal voting, a felony. He received two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and a $2,500 fine, with his voting rights suspended during probation. Such cases, though isolated, are often cited as evidence of vulnerabilities in absentee voting systems.
In 2016, Richard John Greenfield also faced charges in Arizona for voting twice—once in Pima County, Arizona, and again in Washoe County, Nevada. Greenfield, another registered Republican, pleaded guilty to attempted illegal voting, receiving similar penalties: two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and a $2,500 fine. These incidents highlight the importance of cross-state voter registration checks, which Arizona conducts with 29 other states to prevent duplicate voting.
Beyond Arizona, a 2020 case in Yuma County involved four Latina women charged with illegal ballot collection, a practice known as “ballot harvesting.” Arizona law prohibits collecting ballots for others outside of family or household members, and the case drew attention due to its political implications. While the outcome of these charges remains unclear, the case fueled Republican arguments for stricter voting laws to prevent potential abuse.
Nationwide, voter fraud remains exceedingly rare, with studies showing it occurs in less than 0.0001% of ballots cast. For instance, an Associated Press review of six battleground states, including Arizona, identified fewer than 475 potential fraud cases in the 2020 election, representing just 0.15% of Joe Biden’s victory margin. Most issues stemmed from human error or isolated acts, not systemic fraud. In Pima County, Arizona, 151 cases of potential duplicate ballots were investigated, but none warranted criminal charges due to lack of fraudulent intent.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office, under former Republican Mark Brnovich, investigated over 10,000 hours of fraud allegations post-2020, including claims of “bamboo ballots” and votes altered by foreign satellites. These investigations found no evidence of orchestrated fraud, with only a handful of individual cases prosecuted. Current Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, has shifted the focus of the state’s Election Integrity Unit to protecting voting access and combating voter suppression, reflecting differing priorities in addressing election concerns.
High-profile election meddling cases have also emerged, such as the 2024 Arizona indictment of individuals involved in a fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. American Oversight’s investigations revealed that figures like Christina Bobb, now RNC senior counsel for election integrity, communicated with Arizona Senate President Karen Fann about alleged fraud evidence. These actions, while not directly voter fraud, contributed to distrust in the electoral process and prompted legal consequences.
