by admin | Sep 28, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
For months we have been hearing that a small group of disgruntled political consultants and power-hungry politicians would be releasing their plan to scrap our century-old primary and general election system in favor of a confusing jungle primary/ranked choice voting scheme that will disenfranchise voters and empower special interests.
Well last week a group called “Save Democracy Arizona” rolled out their proposed election reform ballot initiative, and it is about as dysfunctional a plan as what we expected.
Reading through their proposed constitutional amendment, a sprawling 4 pages of poorly written language drafted in secret, it is abundantly clear that this won’t make elections any more transparent or fair except for the special interests who support it. And it does far more to disenfranchise voters and destroy democracy than actually save it.
The first major change included in the proposed initiative is the creation of a jungle primary. If this sounds familiar, that may be because California uses a jungle primary system. That’s right, we are now importing California solutions to “fix” our electoral process. Plus, voters in Arizona overwhelmingly rejected a jungle primary ballot measure a decade ago.
Under a jungle primary, every candidate—Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, No Label Party, and Independents—would now appear on the same “primary election” ballot. The winners of the primary then would advance to the general election.
Who gets to decide who the primary winner is? The legislature, who can allow as little as two and as many as eight candidates to advance to the general. If they decide to allow three or more, the legislature must then allow for the ranking of those candidates—thus implementing Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).
So, the measure includes both California-stye jungle primaries and Alaska-style ranked choice voting, all built on the same baseless and flawed complaints about our election system that they have been making for years.
They argue that primary elections result in divisiveness, leading to a small fraction of the most partisan voters determining the outcome of elections. But California Democrats quickly learned the same was true for Jungle Primaries after their voters enacted it, where candidates from only one party advance to the general election ballot in some races, stripping voters of any choice at all.
On top of this, Jungle Primary proponents argue that independent voters (now a third in Arizona) don’t have a voice in the process. But independents do get to vote in our primary elections now, they just have to decide whether they want to vote in the Republican or the Democrat primary – not both. Plus, Independent candidates get to bypass a primary election altogether, collecting more signatures but then advancing straight to the general election ballot—a pathway that partisan candidates can’t pursue.
Finally, one third of voters being “independent” means that two thirds, a supermajority, do associate with a political party. So, this whole multimillion dollar effort to completely change our elections is purportedly built on a block of voters, in the extreme minority, that campaigns spend significant amounts of time and money courting in every election.
In other words, these voters are not ignored, and they do have a voice—arguably an outsized one. The truth is that Jungle Primaries and RCV aren’t for independents. They’re for special interests who can’t win elections without changing the system.
The good news is that despite months and months of planning, the proponents are divided and have split. Just days after Save Democracy filed “Make Elections Fair,” Voter Choice AZ announced they will not be supporting it and will instead move forward with filing their own initiative.
For either to be successful, they’ll need to compete to raise millions to collect the necessary 383,923 signatures, plus a couple hundred thousand safety net. And then they will have to convince voters to support it—voters who have been hearing about the problems of RCV for months.
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 | Sep 14, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes appears to be in a tug-of-war with Governor Katie Hobbs to determine who is worse at their job. It’s been well-documented that since she took office, Hobbs has been off to a rough start with high-profile staff exits, breaking the veto record after killing the bipartisan “Tamale Bill,” and alienating many Democrats by signing the Republican budget. But over the past eight months, Fontes has been working just as hard in the battle to see who’s more incompetent. Not only has he failed to perform the necessary voter list maintenance—leaving 14 Arizona counties in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act—but he rushed through a version of the Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) that is filled with unlawful provisions.
Now, Secretary of State Fontes has been dealt another major blow after a superior court judge ruled that he and his predecessor (now-Governor Katie Hobbs) enforced an EPM requirement that contained an unlawful voter signature verification process.
Currently in Arizona, early ballot voters are only required to prove their identity by signing the exterior of the envelope that contains their ballot. That process is already problematic enough, which is why the Free Enterprise Club has been a strong advocate for universal voter ID in elections. But Hobbs’ EPM, which has been upheld by Fontes, essentially rewrote state law to make invalid voting easier.
Under Arizona statute, an envelope signature is supposed to match the signature on the voter’s registration record. If it doesn’t, the country recorder must contact the voter, advise the voter of the inconsistent signature, and allow the voter to correct or the county to confirm the inconsistent signature. But Hobbs’ EPM instructs county recorders to validate early ballot affidavits if they determine the signature matches any election-related document available to them. This not only rewrites state law regarding signature verification for mail-in ballots, but it creates a process that invites dubious methods and opportunities for abuse during the signature review process.
That’s why the Free Enterprise Club filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Adrian Fontes after he failed to reject Hobbs’ EPM earlier this year. Fontes and a left-wing group called Mi Familia Vota (represented by Hillary Clinton Lawyer Marc Elias) responded by filing a motion to dismiss, claiming to the court that the term “registration record” was ambiguous and up for interpretation. Essentially, they were arguing that he could decide what constituted a valid signature record for the purpose of verifying a ballot signature. On top of that, Fontes petitioned the court to interpret the law to mean that other documents could be included in the definition of “registration record.”
But Judge John Napper saw through those arguments and rejected Fontes’ motion to dismiss earlier this month. He told Fontes that the statute is clear and unambiguous, and he stated that only a voter’s signature used to register to vote is valid.
While the case isn’t over yet (we anticipate that Fontes will appeal), this is a great development as we move forward. The judge ruled in our favor on all questions of law. And we will keep fighting this case all the way to the Supreme Court to ensure a final victory for the integrity of our elections.
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 31, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
The federal government and state governments across the country should be doing everything they can to ensure election integrity going forward. Over the past few years, the Arizona legislature has taken this to heart. But the Left has been fighting against every legitimate election reform that comes from conservatives. Not only are they filing lawsuits in court, but they’ve been deploying a new tactic that threatens the First Amendment.
Lawsuits Against Election Integrity Bills
In 2021, the Arizona legislature passed, and then-Governor Ducey signed into law SB 1485—a law designed to clean up Arizona’s early voter list. Then in 2022, state lawmakers followed that up with HB 2243 (to ensure regular voter list maintenance) and HB 2492 (to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections).
These are commonsense laws that everyone should be able to get behind, but the Left gave up commonsense years ago. So, multiple groups including the Biden administration, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and a consortium of liberal organizations filed two separate lawsuits against these bills—one over SB 1485 and the other over HB 2243 and HB 2492. Both cases are currently in district court, and the good news is that no injunctions have been issued. That means all these laws remain in effect. But the Left isn’t satisfied with just filing lawsuits. Instead, they have deployed a new strategy to target conservative groups.
A Fishing Expedition to Harass the Club and Other Conservative Organizations
While the Free Enterprise Club is not a party to either lawsuit, we have now been served with two subpoenas (here and here) demanding that we hand over all documents, communications, legislative correspondence, and lobbying strategy. On top of that, they want information related to any election activity and expenditure information from the last six years. And they didn’t just stop with a subpoena to the Club. They also issued a subpoena to Club Vice President Aimee Yentes. It’s outrageous, but not completely surprising—the Left has been deploying this lawfare tactic around the country.
The last couple of years, liberal groups and the U.S. Department of Justice have started serving dragnet nonparty subpoenas on conservative organizations to see what private information, if any, they might be able to pry loose. In one circumstance, they went after a group in Alabama called Eagle Forum, a small nonprofit with only one full-time employee and one part-time employee. So why is the Left going after Eagle Forum? Because the group dared to exercise their constitutional rights to stop gender altering “medical treatment” to minors.
These attacks from the Left on conservative organizations and the First Amendment are out of control. That’s why the Club is fighting back. With the help of the Goldwater Institute, we have filed a motion to quash the first subpoena and will be doing the same with the others. The Left cannot be allowed to bully groups into surrendering personal information or strategy documents. And they certainly should not be allowed to attempt to trick a judge into enforcing their ridiculous subpoenas against private groups that are not even a party to the litigation. It’s a dangerous abuse of power, and if the Left is allowed to get away with it, it’s a direct threat to the future of the First Amendment.
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 24, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
The people of Arizona deserve elections that are both accessible and secure—where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. It is the duty of the legislature to pass bills that ensure this, the Governor to sign those bills into law, and the Attorney General to enforce those laws.
But the Secretary of State’s role is different. This elected official is supposed to provide an Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) that provides impartial direction to county recorders to ensure uniform and correct implementation of election law. But just like his predecessor in this role before him (now-Governor Katie Hobbs), our current Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has filled his EPM with unlawful provisions. (Maybe Adrian Fontes just really likes the possibility of being sued.)
Fontes’ EPM Is in Direct Conflict with HB 2492
Only U.S. citizens should be voting in our elections. That’s why the Arizona legislature passed, and then-Governor Ducey signed into law, HB 2492 in 2022. This law cracks down on state voter registration applications that do not include proof of citizenship. It requires counties to check multiple databases for evidence of citizenship when an individual submits a federal application without proof. And it requires counties to reject those federal applications if they find evidence that the individual is, in fact, not a U.S. citizen. Additionally, it makes proof of citizenship a requirement to vote early by mail in any election and to vote in Presidential elections.
All of this is intended to safeguard our state’s voter rolls, and as Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes should be producing an EPM that is consistent with this law. But Chapter 1 of his EPM draft is riddled with provisions that are in direct conflict with the requirements enshrined by this duly enacted bill. And that’s not the only problem.
The EPM Draft Conflicts with New Voter Maintenance Laws
In 2022, the Arizona legislature also enacted several new requirements—like HB 2243—to ensure regular voter list maintenance is completed by counties in a uniform, nondiscriminatory manner so that only qualified voters are actively registered to vote. But once again, Fontes’ EPM contains provisions that conflict with the requirements under these new laws.
For example, in one footnote in the drafted EPM, Fontes aims to prohibit counties from using the SAVE database for any list maintenance purpose. But this conflicts with A.R.S § 16-165(I) which requires the county recorder to compare those who are registered to vote who have not provided satisfactory evidence of citizenship with the SAVE database.
Then, there’s the issue of the Active Early Voter List. In 2021, lawmakers passed, and then-Governor Ducey signed into law, SB 1485. This law requires county recorders to remove any voters registered on the Active Early Voter List who have not cast a ballot during two consecutive election cycles and have not responded to notification from the recorder that they wish to continue to participate. So, how does the EPM handle this? It simply ignores it, which as Senate President Warren Petersen pointed out perpetuates the issue of ballots being sent to homes of voters who may have moved or don’t want to participate in the process any more—therefore allowing an increased opportunity for ballots to get into the hands of unintended individuals.
Other Issues in the EPM
If those issues aren’t enough, Fontes isn’t done yet. His draft EPM doesn’t mention any provisions or procedures related to SB 1362, which was passed and signed into law in 2022 and establishes a framework for tabulating early ballots that are dropped off on election day. It directly conflicts with A.R.S § 16-127 which established that individuals who have not provided satisfactory evidence of citizenship are not eligible to vote in Presidential elections. And it conflicts with the plain language of A.R.S § 16-550 which requires the signature on the affidavit envelope for active early voters to be compared to the signature of the voter in the voter’s registration record.
The list of issues is plentiful, and we could go on and on. But it’s important to note that Fontes attempted to rush this version of the EPM through by deliberately shortening the typical public comment period from one month to two weeks in hopes that most of this wouldn’t get caught by the public. But the Arizona Free Enterprise Club was on top of it and submitted public comments on these issues and more before the shortened deadline.
Now, Adrian Fontes needs to take the necessary actions to fix the EPM and produce a neutral one that is consistent with state law. And if he doesn’t, the Arizona State Senate should follow through on its threat to take legal action against him.
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 11, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
Clean and accurate voter rolls are a cornerstone to safe and secure elections. And they are required by both state and federal law. Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) specifically obligates states to conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters due to death or change of residence. The U.S. Supreme Court even backed this up in its 2018 decision in the case Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute.
But Arizona’s current Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and its former Secretary of State (now Governor) Katie Hobbs have failed to perform the necessary voter list maintenance. And right now, 14 Arizona counties are in violation of Section 8 of the NVRA.
Four Arizona Counties Appear to Have More Registered Voters Than Voting-Age Adult Citizens
A simple comparison of the data gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey with the most up-to-date count of registered voters available from the Arizona Secretary of State is quite eye-opening. When you compare the registered voter count to the survey, it shows that Apache, La Paz, Navajo, and Santa Cruz Counties all have greater than 100% voter registration!
This means that in each of those counties there are more registered voters than eligible voters, and last time we checked, that’s impossible. Clearly, Arizona’s voter rolls are not being properly maintained, but this data alone isn’t the only cause for alarm.
Nine Arizona Counties Have Suspiciously High Voter Registration Rates
According to the Census Bureau, the current national voter registration rate is 69.1 percent. And Arizona’s voter registration rate was 76.4 percent in 2020 and 68.6 percent in 2018. Yet somehow, nine counties in Arizona currently have voter registration rates that exceed 90 percent of their citizen voting-age populations, including: Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai, and Yuma. On top of that, Graham County also outpaces the national voter registration rate with over 80 percent voter registrations.
If you’re keeping count, that means 14 of Arizona’s 15 counties have abnormally high—or in four particular instances, impossibly high—voter registration rates. Discrepancies like this can’t possibly be attributed to above-average voter participation. Instead, they are clear evidence of Arizona’s failure to provide accurate voter rolls, and something must be done.
Adrian Fontes Has 90 Days to Comply with the NVRA
Retaining voter rolls that are bloated with ineligible voters harms the electoral process, heightens the risk of election fraud, and undermines public confidence in elections. That’s why Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi, in partnership with the Honest Elections Project, sent a pre-litigation notice letter to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes earlier this week. Fontes is being given 90 days to correct the violations we identified and must remove anyone from the official voter list who is ineligible to vote in a county, including those who changed residence, died, or are presently incarcerated.
If he fails to comply, Fontes will face a federal lawsuit because having accurate voter rolls is imperative to conducting an election with integrity. And if Adrian Fontes is going to take his job as Secretary of State seriously, he must secure our elections and ensure that Arizona voters are confident in the results, regardless of the outcome.
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 14, 2023 | Elections, News and Updates
Bad ideas never seem to go away. And in politics, they often get recycled every 10 years because consultants need to make money. That’s why it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that we’re seeing another push for jungle primaries in the state of Arizona.
If you’re not familiar with a jungle primary (or open primary), it is an election in which all candidates run in the same primary regardless of their political party. The top two candidates who receive the most votes then advance to the general election.
Several years ago, California adopted this “solution” under the guise that it would result in more moderate policies and candidates being elected there. Go ahead and read that again. When you think of California, do you think of a state with moderate policies and candidates? That should tell you all you need to know about jungle primaries. And yet, now we have groups like Save Democracy telling us that we need to act more like California to improve Arizona. No thank you!
Of course, Arizona voters already said as much back in 2012 when they overwhelmingly rejected this absurd form of voting. But despite this, Save Democracy has decided to pursue a ballot measure to institute jungle primaries after it realized that its work to bring ranked-choice voting (RCV) to Arizona was a disorganized mess.
Some may be thinking: does this mean that the campaign for ranked-choice voting in Arizona is over?
No! (You may want to get your popcorn ready for this one.) While Save Democracy has given up on RCV, a group called Voter Choice Arizona (VCA) has not. Clearly upset with Save Democracy stabbing them in the back and pulling their support, VCA is now openly feuding with its former ally in Save Democracy after it was forced to clarify that they are 100% committed to putting a ranked-choice voting measure on the 2024 ballot.
On top of all this, the Republican-led legislature already voted to send a measure to the 2024 ballot that would give Arizona voters a chance to further protect our primary election system from ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries. So, if you’re keeping score at home, that means we could have three potential ballot initiatives in 2024 dealing with ranked-choice voting or jungle primaries.
This may all seem confusing, but no less confusing than ranked-choice voting where:
-
- Candidates are listed on the ballot, and voters rank each candidate in order of preference.
- If a candidate wins 50% or more of the first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner.
- If no one wins in the first round, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
- In the next round, voters who selected the eliminated candidate as their first choice then have their vote counted for their second preference.
- The process continues until one candidate eventually wins the majority of the adjusted votes.
Jungle primaries will cause many of the same problems—leaving Arizona voters confused and potentially resulting in candidates from the same party being on the ballot in the general election. And that doesn’t even get into the impact all this could have on our voting machines that have had enough trouble under the current system.
The reality is that we’ve already seen significant issues with ranked-choice voting in Alaska. And jungle primaries in California have resulted in fewer candidate choices and even more far left radical politics. We can’t let that happen here. Arizona voters already rejected jungle primaries once. Now, they should shoot them down again.
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