by admin | Aug 15, 2024 | Elections, News and Updates
The people of Arizona deserve elections that are free, fair, transparent, and lawful. As the top election official in our state, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes should be working every day to ensure this happens. And he should be providing an Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) that gives impartial direction to county recorders to ensure uniform and correct implementation of election law.
This shouldn’t be that hard…or controversial.
But Adrian Fontes took it upon himself to produce one of the most radical EPMs in Arizona’s history. In fact, several of the “rules” in his EPM even go as far as to criminalize activity that is protected under the First Amendment—creating an unconstitutional chilling effect on protected political speech. Apparently, Adrian Fontes hasn’t read the United States Constitution or the Arizona Constitution.
Because of this illegal EPM, we sued him. And last week, a Maricopa County Superior Court ruled in our favor, finding that Fontes’ EPM contains speech restrictions that violate the Arizona Constitution, misstatements and modifications of statutes, and failures to identify distinctions between guidance and legal mandates.
So, how did Fontes respond? Did he realize the error of his ways? Will he now properly understand his role and amend the EPM to align with the law? No. Instead Adrian Fontes has responded how you would expect someone to respond when he knows he can’t win. He’s resorted to maligning our organization in the media.
The day after the court ruled in our favor, Fontes hopped on a KTAR morning show, but he didn’t defend his EPM. Instead, he immediately began attacking our organization and denigrating our 15,000 activists and donors. His smears were so over the top that KTAR immediately contacted us to give our organization an opportunity to respond to his outright lies. A few days later he doubled down on these baseless attacks during an interview with MSNBC.
That’s not how the top election official in the state of Arizona is supposed to behave. As Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes is supposed to remain unbiased. But now, he’s trying to use the power of his office to attack and intimidate organizations like ours that participate in the election process. Are we really supposed to believe that he’s not going to use the vague language he included in his EPM to impinge on people’s First Amendment rights to engage in the political process?
It’s outrageous. But it won’t stop us from fighting for the integrity of our elections.
The reality is that Adrian Fontes included language in the EPM that attempts to rewrite state law or create new laws, which he does not have the authority to do. And we sued not over statutes that are already in place, but we sued over the vague and undefined language that Fontes used in his EPM that could be used against people who are simply trying to engage in their First Amendment rights at poll locations.
The Maricopa County Superior Court judge agreed with us, highlighting 13 instances of “problematic language” in her ruling. This wouldn’t have happened if Fontes’ EPM was all fine and good. But the judge correctly realized that certain portions of Secretary Fontes’ illegal and radical manual were nothing more than a brazen attempt to destroy the integrity and transparency of state elections.
Instead of firing off baseless attacks against us and our supporters, perhaps Secretary Fontes and his team of leftwing ideologues should get to work on conforming his elections manual to state law as is their statutory duty. But if he would rather continue to hurl insults, malign our work, and appeal this decision, he should know that we will not back down. We will meet him every step of the way to continue the fight for the integrity of Arizona’s elections because that’s what the people want. And unfortunately, it’s not what they’re getting from their current Secretary of State.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Aug 7, 2024 | Elections, News and Updates
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – In a win for the First Amendment rights of all Arizonans, a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge ruled that a number of provisions within the 2023 Elections Procedures Manual “contains … speech restrictions in violations of our Arizona Constitution, misstates or modifies our statutes, and fails to identify any distinction between guidance and legal mandates.” The order came from Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Fontes, which was filed to challenge the constitutionality of many sections from the manual.
“We applaud the court’s protection of Arizonans’ First Amendment rights during the exercise of their sacred privilege to vote in free and fair elections,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “The judge correctly realized that certain portions of Secretary Fontes’ illegal and radical manual were nothing more than a brazen attempt to destroy the integrity and transparency of state elections. Secretary Fontes and his team of leftwing ideologues must conform the entire manual to state law as is their statutory duty.”
According to the complaint from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, the 2023 EPM improperly placed protected political speech at risk of criminal prosecution and had an unconstitutional chilling effect on protected political speech.
The court order states, “…Many of the prohibitions listed in the EPM are free speech and protected by both the Arizona Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. What, for example, constitutes a person communicating about voter fraud in a harassing manner? Or, for that matter, ‘posting’ a sign in an intimidating manner? How does a person either do this behavior – whatever it means – or avoid it? And what content printed on a t-shirt might be offensive or harassing to one and not another? What if the t-shirt says, ‘I have a bomb and I intend to vote!’? Where does the Secretary draw the line?”
Read the court order here.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Aug 2, 2024 | Elections, News and Updates
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Last night, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the order of a previous panel from its circuit in Mi Familia Vota v. Arizona, which had allowed a lawful requirement to go into effect that would reject State Voter Registration forms without proof of citizenship in Arizona. Attorney General Kris Mayes did not oppose the motion for reconsideration, leading the ruling from this latest panel that vacated enforcement of the law concerning State Voter Registration Forms.
The continuing judicial opinions are part of a challenge to HB 2492, which was authored and passed by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club in 2022 to stop non-U.S. citizens from registering and voting in our state.
“This opinion from two radical judges on the Ninth Circuit is a travesty of law and to the legal process, overturning a ruling issued just last week by the same court,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “We are hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly intervene and reverse this poorly reasoned decision on appeal.”
In Judge Patrick J. Bumatay’s dissent, he writes, “Motions for reconsideration of a motions panel’s order are not meant to be a second bite at the apple. On the contrary, they are highly irregular and strongly disfavored, primarily appropriate if there have been ‘[c]hanges in legal or factual circumstances’ since the motions panel addressed the issue.”
Judge Bumatay adds, “Yet facing identical legal and factual circumstances on an even more expedited basis, the majority now grants the motion and lifts the partial stay… All the public can take away from this episode is that four judges of the Ninth Circuit have voted to partially stay the injunction here, while two other judges voted against it. The two judges prevail – not because of any special insight, but because of the luck of an internal Ninth Circuit draw.”
Arizona Free Enterprise Club will be filing an emergency petition at the Supreme Court of the United States to appeal this most-recent decision from the Ninth Circuit panel.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jul 26, 2024 | Elections, News and Updates
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Today, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed a lawsuit against the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act because it contains multiple separate constitutional amendments in violation of the Arizona Constitution. Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. State of Arizona requests the court to find this initiative in violation of the Arizona Constitution and to prohibit Secretary of State Adrian Fontes from including the initiative on the November General Election ballot.
If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act would radically change how Arizonans select and approve candidates for public office, essentially copying the California voting system.
As the Arizona Free Enterprise Club highlights, the Arizona Constitution’s “Separate Amendment Rule” prohibits multiple constitutional amendments from being combined into a single ballot measure. The Make Elections Fair Arizona Act contains twelve different amendments, covering not less than three separate and distinct topics of election law, amending four different sections of the Arizona Constitution, and creating an entirely new section of the Arizona Constitution.
“In their rush to undermine the will of Arizona voters for future elections, the special interests that drafted this measure ignored our laws and our Constitution,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “This egregious disregard for law and order exudes arrogance from these parties and should disqualify their measure from the November ballot.”
In the brief before the court, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club alleges that this initiative contains multiple express amendments of Arizona’s primary and general election systems, that it implicitly amends multiple additional sections of the state constitution, that the official title acknowledges the initiative contains multiple amendments, that its drafters previously acknowledged the inclusion of multiple constitutional amendments covering distinct topics, that its “purpose and intent” section illustrates the separate and distinct nature of its amendments, and that the drafter’s own website acknowledges the initiative includes multiple amendments.
Joining the Arizona Free Enterprise Club as plaintiffs are qualified electors Susan Garvey, Kathleen Liles, and John Shadegg.
Read the brief here.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jul 25, 2024 | Elections, News and Updates
The surge of border crossings continues. There is an election in just over 3 months. Many voters want to know—can illegals vote?
Obviously, it’s illegal for non-citizens to vote. The real question is whether voters must prove their citizenship prior to voting. This discussion has culminated in the U.S. House passing the SAVE Act earlier this month. But with near unanimous Democrat opposition, a federal proof of citizenship requirement has stalled in Congress.
As both a border and swing state, Arizona is center stage in this national discussion. Even Elon Musk chimed in by sharing an image of our voter registration form that clearly states “proof of citizenship” is not required to vote.
However, Arizona has done far more than any other state to tackle the issue of illegals voting.
In Arizona, if someone registers without proof of citizenship, they are registered as a “Federal Only Voter” and they receive a different ballot with only federal races. This means that: 1) we know exactly who and how many have registered without proof; and 2) they don’t get to influence any of our state or local elections.
In all 49 other states, proof of citizenship is not only not required, but they are all blended onto one list, and they get to vote in every election. So those states have no idea who or how many there even are! Their problem could be far bigger, and they would never know it.
Now with the decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit last week, Arizona will stop even more illegals from voting, thanks to a bill the Arizona Free Enterprise Club authored in 2022.
The truth is, Arizona has worked hard for two decades to stop illegals from voting and until the SAVE Act can be passed, every other state should follow our blueprint to protect their voter rolls and elections from non-citizens voting.
Arizona’s History of Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote
The foundation for allowing people to register without proof of citizenship was laid when Congress, in 1993, passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), creating a voter registration form (Federal Form) that must be used by every state. This form does not (and has never) required proof, only a checkmark affirming citizenship. In response to this gaping loophole, Arizona voters, in 2004, approved Proposition 200, becoming the first state in the nation to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Immediately after Prop 200 went into effect, a coordinated lawfare campaign was launched to undo Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirement. Following a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision determining that the NVRA does require that states “accept and use” the Federal Form for federal races, Arizona created a bifurcated voter registration system. Those who register with the Federal Form without proof of citizenship are registered as ‘Federal Only Voters’ and can only vote in federal elections. Those who use the State Form without proof of citizenship have their applications rejected.
But the assault against Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirement continued, with another lawsuit filed in 2017 challenging the state registration form. This time, the Arizona Secretary of State, rather than going to court to defend the proof of citizenship requirement, quietly entered into a consent decree that bound Arizona to treat the State Form the same as the Federal Form—meaning, register them as ‘Federal Only Voters’ instead of rejecting the form.
The consent decree was a reckless and unnecessary capitulation to the lawfare left, and the result was an explosion of people registering without proof of citizenship. In the 2020 Presidential election, 11,600 Federal Only Voters voted in Arizona, a 582% increase in just two short years. For perspective, Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes.
A Proof of Citizenship Model for All States
That’s why, in 2022, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club authored and passed HB 2492, comprehensive proof of citizenship legislation that, among other things, nullifies the consent decree and reverts Arizona back to the practice of rejecting all state forms without proof of citizenship.
And that’s where this momentous 9th Circuit decision comes in, being celebrated on social media and by President Trump. Last week, a three-judge panel agreed in Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes that the proof of citizenship requirement in HB 2492 shall be allowed to go into effect, meaning every Arizona county must reject State Forms that do not include proof of citizenship. Failure to do so is a class 6 felony.
This decision will significantly improve the integrity of Arizona’s voter rolls as we head into the 2024 Presidential election. And we are still awaiting a ruling on the remaining provisions of HB 2492, key reforms designed to slam shut the ‘Federal Only’ loophole by stipulating that anyone that signs up as a ‘Federal Only’ voter is prohibited from voting by mail and is ineligible to vote for the President of the United States.
Arizona’s proof of citizenship legislation is the roadmap for stopping non-U.S. citizens from registering and voting in our elections. States don’t have to wait around to see if Washington will ever be able to solve this problem. Our passage of HB 2492 and this new ruling prove that every state has the power to act now. And they must.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
Recent Comments