PHOENIX — On Monday, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that mandates the Secretary of State’s office to publicly release a list of tens of thousands of voters who were erroneously categorized as eligible for Arizona’s comprehensive ballot due to a coding error.

The court dismissed an appeal from Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ office, which sought to overturn the previous ruling or at least pause its implementation. A legal challenge had been launched to verify the eligibility of those on the list to cast full ballots in the elections.

Arizona stands out among states by requiring proof of citizenship for individuals to vote in state and local elections. Those without proper documentation, yet who have declared their citizenship under penalty of law, are permitted to vote only in federal elections.

The mishandling of voter classifications that shifted individuals from federal-only status to full-ballot eligibility was attributed to an issue in state database systems linked to driver’s licenses operated by the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division.

With several key elections anticipated to be determined by very narrow margins in this politically competitive state, the pool of approximately 218,000 affected voters is not expected to sway federal election outcomes. However, it could significantly influence closely contested local and state races.

Initially, Fontes’ office denied a public records request for the voter lists submitted by America First Legal, an organization headed by Stephen Miller, a former adviser to ex-President Donald Trump. Fontes’ office expressed concerns regarding the reliability of the list and the safety of the listed voters.

In response, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney determined last week that there was no credible evidence presented that suggested the information might be misappropriated or could incite violence or harassment against voters whose citizenship status is pending verification.

Judge Blaney also set a deadline for Fontes’ office, which required the release of a list containing 98,000 voters along with the data that Fontes utilized to announce additional impacted voters in early October, raising the total to 218,000.