Undercover video released by Muckraker is raising new questions about voter registration practices in Arizona after canvassers aligned with Gov. Katie Hobbs were recorded discussing immigration status, convicted felons, and voter registration.
The footage reportedly shows activists affiliated [1] with Democratic-aligned organizations speaking with undercover journalists who posed as potential voters.
One canvasser, who discussed supporting Hobbs, said he did not make a practice of asking people about their immigration status before encouraging them to participate in the political process.
The video has drawn particular attention because federal elections require voters to be U.S. citizens, and Arizona’s election system has remained under intense scrutiny following several closely contested races.
Muckraker’s team later confronted some of the canvassers about what had been captured on video and questioned them about whether they were encouraging people who were not legally eligible to vote to register anyway.
In one portion of the footage, an undercover journalist claimed to be a convicted felon. According to the account accompanying the video, the canvasser did not treat that disclosure as a barrier and instead encouraged the individual to register.
Another exchange involved an undercover journalist discussing Canadian friends. A woman in the video reportedly suggested sharing a QR code used for online voter registration with those friends.
The footage has prompted criticism because the comments appear to blur the distinction between encouraging civic participation and determining whether an individual is legally eligible to register and vote.
Muckraker identified the canvassers as being affiliated with several organizations, including the AFL-CIO union, Worker Power, Stand Indivisible Arizona and the Democratic National Committee’s When We Count initiative.
Worker Power was described as aligned with Hobbs.
The video comes as Arizona continues to play a major role in national election debates.
The state retains a substantial Republican electorate and supported Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2024, while Democrats have also continued to win major state and local offices.
That combination has fueled ongoing arguments over whether Arizona’s election system is being administered fairly and whether voter registration procedures contain enough safeguards.
Critics of the canvassing activity are now asking whether Democratic-aligned organizations are doing enough to ensure that people being encouraged to register are legally eligible to do so.
The controversy is especially significant because the video appears to show activists treating potentially disqualifying information as either irrelevant or secondary.
The allegation involving noncitizens is likely to receive the most attention.
If canvassers are knowingly encouraging people who are not U.S. citizens to register or vote in federal elections, that would raise serious legal concerns.
The same is true of questions surrounding felon eligibility, which can depend on state law and whether voting rights have been restored.
BREAKING: Katie Hobbs-Aligned Canvassers Caught Willing to Allow Non-Citizens and a Felon to Vote
Muckraker went undercover in Arizona to investigate the groups working to re-elect Gov. Katie Hobbs @katiehobbs and other Democrats.
The full report is quote tweeted below.
Here’s what we found:
Stand Indivisible Arizona (endorsed Gov. Hobbs in its 2026 ballot guide) — Our journalist posed as a Canadian citizen and asked to register to vote. The canvasser not only agreed to help the alleged non-citizen register but also, when asked whether other Canadians could register too, said, “Tell them to do it online.”
Worker Power (working to re-elect Gov. Hobbs) — Our journalist told a canvasser they were not a U.S. citizen. Despite this, at our journalist’s request, the canvasser marked “yes” on the citizenship question of the voter registration form.
When We Count (the DNC’s own registration program) — Our journalist posed as a felon on probation and asked to register to vote. The canvassers looked up the law and saw that a felon on probation is ineligible. Even so, they encouraged our journalist to register: “You should just do it.”
AFL-CIO (phone bank mobilizing voters for Gov. Hobbs) — Our undercover journalist asked a phone bank trainer whether to ask the people being called if they’re citizens. The trainer’s answer: “We don’t care.”
Our journalists stopped every exercise before any voter registration form was submitted.
We also asked Gov. Katie Hobbs about these findings.
Watch this report and share it with the world.
— Muckraker (@realmuckraker) October 22, 2026 [2]
It also does not by itself prove that Gov. Hobbs personally directed or approved any of the conduct shown.
What it does show, according to Muckraker, is that individuals working with Democratic-aligned groups were willing to discuss voter registration in ways that critics say ignored or minimized basic eligibility requirements.
That distinction is likely to become central to the political fallout.
Supporters of stricter election enforcement argue that registration efforts should begin with clear verification of citizenship and legal eligibility rather than treating those questions as optional.
The recordings are also likely to intensify scrutiny of organizations involved in large-scale voter outreach in Arizona.
The AFL-CIO, Worker Power, Stand Indivisible Arizona and When We Count were all identified in connection with the canvassers shown in the compilation.
The video’s release adds another layer to Arizona’s long-running election integrity debate and is expected to renew calls for closer oversight of voter registration drives.
With state and federal races continuing to be decided by relatively narrow margins, critics argue that even isolated instances of improper registration activity deserve investigation.
The central question now is whether the conduct shown in the undercover footage was limited to a few canvassers or reflected broader practices within the organizations involved.