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The origin of the leaked phone call remains unclear. Speculation has emerged that the call may have been intentionally “leaked” to the media to project an image of transparency and election integrity. Some have suggested that it could have been staged as part of damage control to downplay the seriousness of the oversight.
All three officials on the call, including Hobbs, Mayes, and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, won their races in the 2022 midterm elections. Those elections were marred by significant issues, notably in Maricopa County, where 60% of voting machines reportedly failed on Election Day. This failure has fueled allegations of voter fraud, with claims that hundreds of thousands of illegal or fraudulent mail-in ballots were counted. Hobbs, who was serving as Arizona’s Secretary of State during both the 2020 and 2022 elections, oversaw the process.
The leaked September 10 phone call confirms that election officials knew about the issue more than a week before the public was informed. Arizona GOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda told The Gateway Pundit, “It’s my understanding that the Secretary knew and informed the Governor on September 6.” However, it wasn’t until Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer made an official announcement on September 17 that the public learned about the problem.
The error, reported by The Gateway Pundit, stemmed from a flaw in the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) system, which validated nearly 100,000 voter registrations without verifying the citizenship of those individuals. But this issue wasn’t a new one. A longstanding loophole, dating back two decades, allowed individuals who obtained driver’s licenses before 1996 to vote without proof of citizenship.
Arizona implemented a law in 2004 requiring documentary proof of citizenship to vote. However, people who obtained driver’s licenses before 1996 were not required to provide proof of citizenship to get a license, leading to their status being marked as “verified” by the MVD system, regardless of their citizenship status.
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Stephen Richer explained the technicalities during the call, saying, “If a driver received a license prior to 1996, he did not have a documented proof of citizenship on file. But then, if he got a duplicate license (e.g., in the case of losing a license), the issuance date would be updated in the statewide voter registration’s interface with MVD.”
The 40-minute phone call between Hobbs, Mayes, and Fontes captured their concerns about how to manage the situation. Hobbs described the matter as “urgent” and “dire,” expressing fears about the public’s reaction once the issue became known.
Mayes and Fontes were particularly worried about potential allegations of election fraud in the upcoming 2024 elections. “When this goes public, it is going to have all of the conspiracy theorists in the globe — in the world — coming back to re-litigate the past three elections, at least in Arizona,” Hobbs warned.
Mayes reportedly expressed concern that they would be accused of disenfranchising Republican voters, who are more likely to have licenses issued before 1996 and could be disproportionately affected by the error.
In an effort to avoid politicizing the issue, Hobbs reportedly wanted to steer the conversation away from voter party affiliation. However, Mayes pushed back, saying, “I mean, Katie, I understand your point about not politicizing this, but the reality is that if we let this happen, all of these elections are challengeable. They’re going to be calling for a new election.”
In the end, their proposed solution was for Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer to file a “friendly lawsuit.” According to The Gateway Pundit, this move made sense, given that Richer is a Republican in name, but Democrats allegedly relied on him to shield them from accusations of bias. The lawsuit called for the affected voters—predominantly Republicans—to be registered as “Federal-only” voters, meaning they could not participate in state or local elections unless they provided proof of citizenship.
The lawsuit, filed in Arizona’s highest court, was swiftly ruled upon, and the affected voters were ultimately allowed to cast full ballots. However, the damage to public trust in the state’s election integrity may be far from resolved.
