Watchdog sues Arizona counties for allegedly not removing non-citizens from voter rolls

America First Legal (AFL) filed an amended lawsuit against all 15 of Arizona's counties for allegedly failing to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and a registered voter who is a naturalized citizen, follows AFL's complaint against Maricopa County last month.

The case against Maricopa County began after AFL sent letters to election officials in all 15 counties in July, demanding that they prevent non-citizens from voting and threatening legal action if they did not. The Maricopa County lawsuit alleged that election officials were not following state law, which requires monthly voter list maintenance to ensure non-citizens are not on the county's voter rolls.

Maricopa County moved the case to federal court, which allowed AFL to sue all 15 counties, rather than just Maricopa.

AFL argues that two federal laws "allow State and local officials to obtain information about the citizenship or immigration status of any individual for any lawful purpose," but that county officials have not used them for voter roll maintenance.

In Arizona, registered voters without proof of citizenship can vote only in federal elections, not state elections.

As of July 1, there are 42,301 voters without proof of citizenship on Arizona's voter rolls, which increased from 35,273 as of April 1, the lawsuit states, citing information from the Arizona secretary of state's office.

“We are taking emergency action to secure our elections,” AFL President Stephen Miller said in a statement. “In addition to Maricopa, we are now suing 14 additional counties in Arizona for refusing to remove illegal aliens and non-citizens from their voter rolls. America First Legal will do everything in its power to fight mass illegal alien voting and foreign interference in our democracy.”