PHOENIX — A non-citizen who has been living in Arizona for multiple decades on a green card has come forward expressing his confusion over suddenly becoming registered to vote after he renewed his driver's license.
The man is speaking out after the Maricopa County Recorder's Office found last week that a 20-year-old computer coding error didn't report if 98,000 voters provided proof of citizenship when they registered. The man is concerned there could be more non-citizens registered to vote.
According to the Arizona Secretary of State's office, most voters affected by the error are older and lean Republican. All received driver's licenses issued before 1996. The office provided a one-page explainer of the problem.
RELATED: Court rules nearly 98,000 Arizonans whose citizenship hadn't been confirmed can vote the full ballot
Green card holder erroneously registered in 2021
69-year-old Leemans said in 2021 when he turned 65, he renewed his license online through the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department. He came to Arizona in the 1980s on a green card sponsored by his Belgium-based company. Years later, he transferred to a U.S.-based company that he is now sponsored by.
After he renewed his license, he received multiple curious items in the mail that led him to believe he had become a registered voter.
Those items included a voter identification card with an ID number and two voter education guides with listed candidates in the mail: one for the 2022 election and one for the 2024 election.
The date of issuance on his voter ID card is the same date that he was issued his new driver's license. He immediately reached out to election officials.
“I specified that I was a U.S. resident, not a citizen, and that I had received a voter ID card, and I don't think it was right," Leemans said.
In emails provided by Leemans, he tried to inform elections officials of his eligibility to vote in 2022, shortly after receiving the first batch of voter materials. He again reached out to the Maricopa County Recorder's Office last month to let them know he never willingly registered to vote and was concerned because he has continued to receive voting materials.
“I wasn't worried about it from my personal, personal perspective. Okay, you know, I didn't vote, and I did my best to get me off the registration," Leemans said referring to his pursuit to become de-registered to vote.
Tammy Patrick, the former Federal Compliance Officer for the Maricopa County Elections Department said Leemans may have registered to vote by accidentally checking 'yes' on the U.S. citizenship question.
“When you would pull up the signed form in their own handwriting, oftentimes people forget," Patrick said of her experience with voters' memories. "We need to make sure that the system is set up in such a way that it makes sure that the voters are really aware of what the transaction is, that they're taking place with."
Leemans said he is sure he would have never checked 'yes' on any type of citizenship question.
"I would never, never, never have claimed to be a US citizen," Leemans said.
Records should show if Leemans checked citizenship box
12News began asking Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's Office a series of questions last week on September 19 which included:
- Is Luc Leemans the person who alerted the Maricopa County Recorder's Office (MCRO) of the MVD coding error?
- Leemans claims he first alerted MCRO of him erroneously being registered to vote in 2022. Do your records indicate this? If so, why was he not given a reply?
- Does MCRO know how Leemans was registered to vote after a renewal of his driver's license? How does this work?
- Does MCRO know how many other non-citizens may be erroneously registered to vote?
A spokesperson said they could not comment until the investigation into the coding error is complete.
12News asked Patrick if exploring how Leemans became registered to vote is worth the time of elections officials.
"Yeah, I think that it really makes sense to double-check and make sure. Not knowing exactly how it was set up, if it was just carrying forward all the old information, or if it was somehow set up to automatically populate information, those are the sorts of things that you would want to understand," Patrick said.
12News submitted a records request for Leemans' voter records on the night of September 18. It's a request that typically takes the recorder's office 1-2 business days to fulfill. After four full business days, the office has not released the information requested.
Leemans also made an in-person request for his own records but has not received them either.
“I am frustrated to the fact that even if I give permission for somebody to get a record, that permission is basically ignored, and that I had to come here in person to actually receive another form," Leemans said.
Patrick said there is a record that shows if Leemans registered to vote, and if he did, how he answered the U.S. citizenship question.
“If that PDF is checked off, 'no, I'm not a citizen', then it should have stopped," Patrick said.
And without that confirmation, concerns over how non-citizens are getting registered to vote will stay unaddressed.
“If there's any way that as a result of this, OK, there was some illegal things going on? Then, then I'm happy that I did this," Leemans said of coming forward with his story.
12News has also asked the Motor Vehicle Department to explain their process of registering to vote. A spokesperson issued the following statement:
The Secretary of State's Office and Governor's Office have explained in detail the situation and steps taken to resolve it. MVD and SOS jointly agreed to create a specific flag in data provided to SOS for people whose licenses or IDs were originally created prior to Oct. 1, 1996, and who have not since provided additional documentation. We are respectfully declining the opportunity to discuss this on camera. Any questions about specific individuals and voter registration should be directed to SOS.
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