Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running in the state's gubernatorial race as a Democrat, said Tuesday, according to
The Wall Street Journal, that her office sent out the wrong ballots to voters who were incorrectly registered as "federal only" voters.
Federal only voters are not registered to vote in state elections, such as the one for governor.
"A person is not required to submit proof of citizenship with the voter registration form," the official secretary of state website reads, "but failure to do so means the person will only be eligible to vote in federal elections (known as being a 'federal only' voter). A 'federal only' voter will become eligible to vote a 'full ballot' in all federal, state, county and local elections if he or she later provides valid proof of citizenship to the appropriate County Recorder's office."
Hobbs, according to the Journal, said that the affected voters, who didn't receive the full ballot, will be notified and given one.
A spokeswoman from the secretary of state's office, Sophia Solis, later added that the voter records of some 6,000 people are being reviewed. As of August, Arizona has nearly 4.2 million registered voters.
The significance of issuing 6,000 incorrect ballots contrasts with the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. During that election, President Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,000 votes. But Republicans running at that time maintained there was fraud.
Kari Lake, Hobbs' opponent, has run as a staunch advocate of election integrity. In July, Lake's campaign issued a statement calling for Hobbs to recuse herself from overseeing Arizona's 2022 election.
"The Kari Lake for Arizona campaign is calling for the most partisan Secretary of State in the history of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, to step down from her duties in administering the 2020 election when Hobbs will be on the ballot as a candidate for governor," the Lake campaign tweeted during the summer.
Additionally, Republican National Committee spokesman Ben Petersen echoed the sentiment of Lake's campaign, stating: "If there's one thing Arizonans can count on, it is Katie Hobbs' incompetence. Hobbs' task was simple — send the right ballots to the right people — and she can't even do that.
"Katie Hobbs clearly can't be relied upon to administer an election, especially one where she has a vested interest in the outcome. Hobbs must step aside and allow an independent administrator to clean up her mess."
Newsmax could not reach Hobbs' office for a comment.
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