The deadline to send early ballots by mail was Friday, and Election Day is Nov. 3. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes sued County Recorder Justin Heap this week, asking a judge to return the voters to the active rolls and ensure they receive ballots.

The dispute stems from a problem in state driver’s license records that allowed some longtime voters to register without the documentary proof of citizenship Arizona requires. In February, Heap checked about 61,000 voters against the federal SAVE citizenship database. The system flagged 207 people as possible noncitizens, and Heap marked them ineligible to vote and referred their names to prosecutors.

Of 60 flagged voters who had previously cast ballots, County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in September that 52 were citizens and eight were not. Heap has restored 27 of those 52 citizens to the rolls; the other 25 remain blocked.

Mayes and Fontes argue that a database flag alone is not enough to remove a voter’s eligibility under state law, which they say requires proof that a person is not a citizen. They are also seeking regular ballots for the affected voters rather than provisional ballots, which may not be counted.

Heap has said the issue is not whether the 25 are citizens, but whether his office has the required documentation. He told KTAR News that Arizona law requires documented proof of citizenship and that he could not find a provision allowing his office to rely simply on another agency’s conclusion.

At Friday’s court hearing, the attorney general’s office said it had the voters’ driver’s license records available. Heap’s attorney, James Rogers, said the recorder could restore their eligibility that day after reviewing the documents. The sides planned to meet Friday afternoon; if they did not reach an agreement, they were expected back in court Monday.