Decades old computer glitch complicates eligibility to vote for Arizona residents

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. (NBC, KYMA, KECY) - A decades old computer glitch is complicating the eligibility to vote for more than 200,000 longtime Arizona residents.

In court, defending approximately 218,000 longtime voters who might never have verified their citizenship as required by Arizona law because of a 20 year old glitch in the voter registration database, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said his reasons safety in the exact number of voters isn't known.

"The post election activities that have to happen, including the auditing and so forth, it would be virtually impossible for us to be able to do what the plaintiffs are asking us to do. A, because we don't have control. B, we don't have a list. C, we don't have the resources. And D, I'm scared to death for my voters, in what way are you scared to death for your voters? Well, because they cannot walk around with a bodyguard and have 24/7 security officers outside of their house to protect them from harassment."

Adrian Fontes, AZ Secretary of State

Fontes is mentioning how he, his family and his staff have come under threat, including being doxxed and swatted.

"One of these sorts of instances was was done against myself and my family, I want to say, within the last couple of months, thankfully, though, because we had been preparing for this, we had a line of communication directly with the Phoenix Police Department," Fontes explained.

The Arizona Supreme Court previously said the voters affected by the glitch will be allowed to vote a full ballot, with state, federal and local elections and ballot measures, as everyone who registered to vote did attest or swear that they are legal citizens.

A Trump aligned legal firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of EZAZ.org, which describes itself as a largely conservative grassroots organization, to release the names of those voters. Their attorneys were in court on Monday, arguing against the Secretary of State's position.

"Their argument's based on the premise that EZAZ.org is going to take this list and do something unlawful with it, and there's no there's no evidence for that," one of the attorneys said.

Now left for Maricopa County Judge Scott Blaney to decide if the names must be released as Election Day is nearly a week away.