Arizona Lawmaker Grills Progressive Lobbyists on Non-Citizen Voting, Exposing Evasive Tactics in Election Integrity Battle

In a tense Arizona House committee hearing on Thursday, Republican State Rep. Alexander Kolodin grilled three progressive lobbyists on a straightforward question: Should individuals be required to be U.S. citizens to vote in Arizona elections? Their evasive, non-committal responses—captured in a viral video clip—have ignited fresh outrage among election integrity advocates, highlighting what critics call a deliberate push by left-leaning groups to blur lines on voter eligibility amid ongoing concerns about non-citizens voting in the swing state.

WATCH: 

I asked three Democrat lobbyists a simple question: "Should you have to be a citizen in order to vote in Arizona's elections?"

Just wait until you see their answers! pic.twitter.com/t9tuVWnXVd

— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) January 29, 2026

The exchange occurred during deliberations on HB 2806, a bill sponsored by Republicans that mandates verification of lawful presence in the United States for accessing public programs, including voter registration, driver’s licenses, and certain benefits. The measure amends existing statutes (Sections 16-166, 28-3153, and 36-2903.03 of Arizona Revised Statutes) to require applicants to prove authorized U.S. presence via the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. Proponents argue it’s essential to prevent illegal immigrants from exploiting public resources and diluting citizen votes, especially in a state plagued by election controversies since 2020.

Kolodin, a vocal election integrity hawk and candidate for Arizona Secretary of State in 2026, pressed the lobbyists representing organizations known for aggressive voter registration drives. “Do you believe that people should have to be United States citizens in order to vote in Arizona’s elections?” he asked each.

First up was Hugo Polanco, a lobbyist with Creosote Partners representing Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE), a nonprofit focused on civic education and voter mobilization in rural communities. Polanco, the son of Mexican immigrants who grew up in Phoenix, has a history of progressive advocacy. He previously ran the successful 2016 campaign for Adrian Fontes, electing the first Latino to a Maricopa County office, and has lobbied against measures like a 2020 sanctuary cities ban, calling such policies “racist.” 

In the hearing, Polanco dodged: “I’m representing an organization and speaking to this bill. I’ve shared those sentiments because the organization you’re here representing believes that people should have to be United States citizens in order to vote in Arizona’s elections?” The Chair agreed that Polanco’s dodge “wasn’t an answer.”

Next, Jodi Liggett, representing Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), a Democrat-tied, tax exempt “nonprofit” advocating for “social, racial, and economic justice,” offered a similarly vague response. Liggett, a native Arizonan and seasoned public policy expert, has worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations and served as Director of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Arizona—a role she said was “too good to pass up.”  She’s a prominent women’s advocate and has ties to LUCHA’s affiliated Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE). 

She stated, “I think certainly they believe all taxpayers should have access to democracy,” but admitted she didn’t feel comfortable making a definitive statement on behalf of the organization. Kolodin pushed back “That was quite a word salad.: When Kolodin clarified if LUCHA believes non-citizens should vote because they pay taxes, Liggett punted that she “wasn’t comfortable making a definitive statement.”

The third lobbyist, Caitlin Contreras from the ACLU, tripled down on the evasion: “It is the ACLU’s position that voting should be fair and accessible, and everyone who’s eligible.” Which was met with the obvious and legal response by the Chair:  “That would be U.S. citizen, ma’am.” 

The clip, posted by Kolodin on X, has garnered nearly 200,000 views, with commenters lambasting the lobbyists for refusing to affirm basic and legal citizenship requirements for voting.

Kolodin, an attorney with over a decade in election law, has been at the forefront of Arizona’s election integrity fights. He founded Kolodin Law Group PLLC and litigated key cases, including a 2014 victory establishing election metadata as public records and a 2020 Arizona Supreme Court win against then-Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes over allegedly fraudulent voter instructions. 

Kolodin, a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, has sponsored reforms like HB 2785 (signed into law) and now eyes the Secretary of State role to “restore transparency,” criticizing incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes for practices he claims enable fraud.

This hearing underscores broader election integrity concerns in Arizona, a battleground state where non-citizen voting has been a flashpoint, In 2024, a lawsuit was filed related to open records for the records of “a glitch” affecting the confirmation of nearly 98,000 voters’ citizenship documents. Secretary of State Fontes, fought the request, claiming releasing the information would expose the voters to “harassment and violence resulting in possible death or injuries.”

According to a report by AZ Family:

Fontes was also found to have given inconsistent testimony about the number of voters affected by the state’s MVD (Motor Vehicle Department) glitch. At first, he said his office didn’t have a list of the initial 98,000, then changed his testimony after lunch.

He then said the Secretary of State’s Office doesn’t have the complete list of all 218,000 affected by the error.

Critics argue progressive organizations like RAZE and LUCHA, fueled by out-of-state donors, prioritize mass registration over verification, potentially enabling illegal voting.

RAZE, a 501(c)(3) with a 501(c)(4) advocacy arm (Rural Arizona Action), saw their  revenues explode from $2.5 million in 2023 to $5.7 million in 2024, largely from grants. Donors include the Ford Foundation ($300,000 in 2024 for civic engagement), Rural Climate Partnership ($150,000 for organizing), Kelly Ann Brown Foundation, Tides Foundation’s Healthy Democracy Fund, and others like Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, Civic Nation, and Voter Registration Project. 

RAZE claims to have registered thousands via “RAZE the Vote” in counties like Pinal, Pima, and Cochise, partnering with One Arizona—a coalition that boasts 600,000 registrations since 2018 with an unbelievable 70 percent turnout in the 2020 election.

Ties to RAZE and Democrats are well documented: Co-founder Natali Fierros Bock ran as a Democrat for state Senate in 2018 and now leads One Arizona; Executive Director Pablo Correa managed her campaign.

“One Arizona’s primary role is to operate voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts among Democratic-aligned ethnic minority communities in Arizona. It was also active in promoting participation in the 2020 U.S. Census, Arizona’s 2021 legislative redistricting, and other policy topics,” according to Influence Watch.

RAZE’s additional partner, LUCHA, a 501(c)(4) with tax-exempt revenues have also surged in recent years (e.g., ~$8.99 million in 2024 per ProPublica filings), up approximately $5 million from 2021 and relies on billionaire philanthropists outside of Arizona.  In 2017, LUCHA had only $328,000 on the books, of which $250,000 was donated from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.

LUCHA’S key donors include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations ($1.5 million in 2019, $250,000 in 2017), Democracy Fund Voice ($500,000 in 2023, $375,000 from 2019-2021), and Ford Foundation via New Venture Fund ($500,000 in 2017). LUCHA’s voter efforts include endorsements for Democrats via “LUCHA Blue,” opposition to voter ID laws, and lawsuits to expand access (e.g., with Campaign Legal Center to block restrictions targeting Latinos and Native Americans). The “nonpartisan” nonprofit organizes for economic justice, like the “Arizona We Deserve” campaign pushing taxes on the wealthy to fund programs, and have been accused of promoting open borders policies.

These groups’ funding—the majority of funds from out-of-state “progressive” elites—raises questions about external influence on Arizona elections and adherence to state and federal election laws. As Kolodin noted in the hearing, “Just because they pay taxes” doesn’t entitle non-citizens to vote, a principle enshrined in federal law but increasingly challenged by progressive activists and Democrats.

With Arizona’s 2026 elections looming, including Kolodin’s Secretary of State bid, HB 2806 could become a litmus test for safeguarding citizen-only voting. The Republican legislative majority warns that without such measures, the integrity of future ballots and state elections remains at risk, similar to the ongoing chaos of 2020 that Kolodin fought, and was sanctioned for challenging. As one X commenter put it: “If they can’t say ‘yes’ to citizenship for voting, what are they hiding?”