The Left’s New Ballot Measure Would Make It Easy to Cheat and Hard to Catch in Arizona Elections

by admin | Jun 2, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates

Since the 2020 election, the left has been accusing conservatives of spreading the “Big Lie”—a label attached to anyone who believes that voter fraud does occur and that there are legitimate election integrity reforms that require legislative attention. Every reform that lawmakers have introduced has been labelled “Jim Crow 2.0,” and the left has rallied hundreds of organizations to prevent them from becoming law.

Yet while decrying legitimate election reforms from conservatives, liberals have been busy pushing their own election bills, such as HR1, which would have federalized our entire election process and completely changed the way we vote. It was a radical bill that fortunately stalled in the U.S. Senate due to a lack of votes.

But their defeat in Washington hasn’t stopped the left in their quest to undermine the security of our elections and chill our speech rights. A coalition of liberal organizations have decided to bring HR1 to Arizona with a new ballot measure called “Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections.” Suffice to say, there is nothing free or fair about it.

For example, their proposed initiative would raise taxes on small businesses to increase public funding for politicians running for office. While it isn’t surprising that Democrats want taxpayer dollars to subsidize their campaigns going into an election with gas prices higher than ever and families struggling to deal with record inflation, Arizonans don’t want their hard-earned dollars paying for yard signs, political mailers, and campaign advertisements.

Additionally, successful efforts were made in numerous states last year, Arizona included, to prohibit the private funding of the administration of elections. Their measure guts that safeguard, allowing billionaires and special interests to directly finance or sponsor election operations.

Next, while poll after poll shows that an overwhelming majority of voters support common-sense reforms like voter ID, their initiative completely guts existing voter ID requirements for in-person voters and forbids the state from requiring voter ID for mail-in ballots, which the popular Arizonans for Voter ID Act would do.

Recently, the Governor signed HB2492 which strengthens proof of citizenship requirements for registering to vote, ensuring only eligible citizens are registered and voting in our elections. Their proposed initiative would undo this reform, allowing individuals who do not provide proof of citizenship to vote in all federal elections and making it easier for illegals to vote.

And as voters are becoming alarmed at potentially massive ballot harvesting operations in several states in 2020 and actual grand jury ballot trafficking indictments in Arizona, their 25-page election overhaul would expose voters to ballot trafficking by operatives and campaigns who can go door to door collecting ballots directly from voters, even when the voter has not asked for help casting their ballot.

Contrary to the liberals HR1 wish list of election reforms, Arizonans want an election system where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. But measures like this make it easy to cheat and hard to catch. Most of the nearly 60 provisions of the initiative ranging from tax hikes to gutting wildly popular reforms like voter ID are not what Arizona voters want—Republicans and Democrats alike.

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.

Arizona Free Enterprise Club Releases First Round of Endorsements

by admin | May 19, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates

Phoenix, AZ – Today the Arizona Free Enterprise Club announced its first slate of endorsements for the 2022 election.      

The endorsed candidates represent individuals that share our values and commitment to a free and prosperous Arizona. Club President Scot Mussi stated, “It is critical that Arizona elects leaders and policymakers who are able to articulate and stand up for individual liberties, free market policies, and conservative values.  We believe that these candidates are up to the challenge.”

Arizona State Legislature

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.

Legislature Passes Bill Ensuring Only U.S. Citizens Can Vote in Our Elections—And the Left Is Freaking Out

by admin | Mar 24, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates

Arizona voters received a big win yesterday. The State Senate passed HB2492 less than a month after the House did the same. And now this critical bill heads to Governor Ducey’s desk to be signed into state law.

This is a big win toward restoring the integrity of Arizona’s elections. HB2492 will safeguard our state’s voter rolls and ensure only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections. You would think this sort of legislation is something everyone could get behind. But apparently, the Democrats have a vested interest in allowing non-citizens to vote in our elections.

That’s why they’ve been spreading lies about HB2492 for months.

At first, Democrats tried to argue that the bill is unconstitutional. But it isn’t. So, they changed tactics and began saying that it will require all voters, or at least millions, to reregister. This is also untrue.

But that didn’t stop the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (ADLCC) from comparing HB2492 to a bill introduced in Oklahoma. Of course, there’s a problem with this so-called “evidence.” The Oklahoma bill would require every voter to reregister:

“Effective December 31, 2023, to be eligible to vote in any state or federal election, all eligible voters shall be required to reregister to vote.”

But the ADLCC won’t be able to point to a provision like that in HB2492. You know why? Because it doesn’t exist.

Their real problem with the bill is that it unwinds over a decade of stealth legal attacks on Arizona’s ability to ensure only lawful U.S. citizens can vote. HB accomplishes this by:

• • Taking Arizona back to the practice of rejecting state voter registration applications that do not include proof of citizenship.
  • Requiring counties to check multiple databases for evidence of citizenship when an individual submits a federal application without proof.
  • Requiring counties to reject those federal applications if they find evidence that the individual is, in fact, not a U.S. citizen.

Additionally, HB2492 makes proof of citizenship a requirement to vote early by mail in any election and to vote in Presidential elections. Clearly, the left knows how impactful this bill will be. But instead of stating the obvious, as some do (that this will make it harder for illegals to participate in our elections), they make outlandish claims with no basis in reality.

HB 2492 isn’t the only election integrity bill that the left has been spreading lies about. They used these same tactics against the Arizonans for Voter ID Act—a reaction to lawmakers successfully placing it on the ballot for the November election.

For example, they were making the absurd claim that it will lead to thousands of mail-in ballots being rejected because counties don’t have the proper information to check the ID of each voter. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of individuals currently on the Active Early Voter list already have the identification information required by the initiative in their registration file, and there is ample time for the counties to complete voter education drives—as they should. Not to mention the existing five-day cure period during which a voter can correct or supply any missing information.

Thankfully, we are very confident voters are seeing through the misinformation campaigns. In fact, despite constant lies and fearmongering about commonsense election reforms, support among voters has actually increased. Yesterday, Arizona’s Republican lawmakers proved that they are listening. Now, it’s up to Governor Ducey to follow in their footsteps by signing HB2492 into law.

Tell Governor Ducey to sign HB2492 into law!

HB2492 is necessary to safeguard our voter rolls, ensure only qualified applicants are registered and voting in our elections, and assert our constitutional power to determine voter qualifications. Stand for election integrity today.

Tell Governor Ducey to protect our voter rolls and sign HB2492 into law!

The Arizonans for Voter ID Act Is on the November Ballot

by admin | Mar 3, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates

This week got off to a great start. On Monday, the Arizona House passed HB2492, a bill that would safeguard our voter rolls by ensuring that only qualified, U.S. citizens are registered to vote, able to vote in Presidential elections, and eligible to vote by mail.

But the good news didn’t stop there.

The House also passed SCR1012, known as the Arizonans for Voter ID Act. And with the Senate already passing this ballot referral late last week, that means the people of Arizona will now get to decide on universal voter ID in November.

This is an important step to ensure the integrity of our elections. “Easy to vote and hard to cheat” should be the benchmark for every election we have. And in Arizona, voters certainly have many ways to exercise their vote, including day-of-polls, early voting, and mail-in voting.

But the security of our elections has been a different story—as the audit report showed this past September. Universal voter ID here in Arizona would help solve this critical issue. If passed by the voters in this November’s election, this initiative would:

• • Improve existing in-person voter ID requirements.
  • Establish voter ID for mail-in ballots.
  • Deter ballot harvesting by enhancing voter ID requirements for in-person ballot drop off.
  • Provide a free voter ID option to lawfully registered Arizona voters who need it for voting.

This is a common-sense approach to election integrity that’s being increasingly implemented around the country. And it ensures that no matter when you vote, where you vote, or how you vote, identification will be required.

As you might expect, some Democrat leaders are having a meltdown, most especially Sen. Martín Quezada (D-LD29), who couldn’t help but tweet that not everyone has access to an ID. Apparently, Sen. Quezada didn’t read the bill because, as we mentioned above, this initiative gives every citizen access to a free voter ID.

But we do have to ask. If Sen. Quezada and other Democrats are so concerned about this, why don’t they also have a problem with other daily activities that require basic identification? The people of Arizona already have to provide ID for things like purchasing alcohol or cigarettes, obtaining a driver’s license, boarding a commercial flight, donating blood, opening a bank account, purchasing a firearm, receiving unemployment benefits, obtaining auto insurance, purchasing or renting a home, and more.

Isn’t the security of our elections equally—if not more important—than each of these?

Perhaps what’s most eye-opening is that Democrat leaders pushing back against universal voter ID are actually pushing back against their very own people.

Statewide polling from April of last year shows that an overwhelming majority of Arizona voters support voter ID requirements, including every race and ethnicity. And even a large majority of Democrats, 69%, support the idea of requiring all voters to provide ID prior to voting.

Now the people of Arizona will get a chance to decide once and for all this November. And if they want to protect the ballot of every qualified Arizona voter, they should choose to make universal voter ID a reality in our 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.

The Left Is Trying to Take Over Arizona’s Election Process by Bringing HR1 to the States

by admin | Feb 17, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates

The Left is determined to shove their so-called “election reforms” down the throats of the American people. After gaining control of Congress, the US House passed House Resolution 1 (HR1) in March of last year.

But their federal takeover of elections has been held up in the U.S. Senate for months, so they have moved to ‘Plan B’—taking over the election process in Arizona.

Earlier this month, a group called the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections—which is nothing more than a consortium of liberal groups here in Arizona—dropped a ballot initiative that might as well be a leftist wish list of election law changes. But while they’ll tell you that this measure is about “expanding voting rights,” make no mistake. Just like with HR1, this ballot measure is about eliminating all meaningful safeguards in our voting process.

Take a look at the actual ballot language and see for yourself. Some of the provisions in this bill include:

• • Stipulating that anyone who applies for an Arizona driver’s license will be automatically registered to vote.
  • Providing for same-day registration on election day.
  • Making it easier for illegal immigrants to register and vote.
  • Expanding taxpayer funding of political campaigns.
  • Repealing Arizona’s ballot harvesting ban.
  • Expanding and protecting early voting in Arizona.
  • Allowing for people to vote not just out of precinct, but out of county.
  • Implementing campaign finance law changes that violate our free speech rights.
  • Increasing taxes on Arizona business owners. (Because…of course. Raising taxes on businesses will somehow improve our election process.)

Think about what this could mean for the future of our elections. In 2018, over 1,700 individuals in Arizona who had not provided Documented Proof of Citizenship voted in elections for federal office. But in 2020, the number of individuals ballooned to 11,600! A ballot measure like this would potentially make it even easier for illegals to vote and cultivate fraud.

It’s clear that the left is using this Arizona-based version of HR1 to attempt their election takeover at the ballot box. They must be stopped. And that’s why the Club is actively working to pass election integrity reforms at the legislature and is sponsoring the Arizona Voter ID initiative.

HB2492 would safeguard our voter rolls by ensuring that only qualified, U.S. citizens are registered to vote, are able to vote in Presidential elections, and are eligible to vote by mail. (You can sign our petition in support of HB2492 right here.) And HB2237 would prohibit election officials from registering individuals and allowing them to then vote on election day.

On top of that, the Arizonans for Voter ID Act Initiative consists of four key provisions that would:

1. Improve existing in-person voter ID requirements.
2. Require voter ID on mail-in ballots.
3. Prevent ballot harvesting by enhancing voter ID requirements for in-person ballot drop off.
4. Provide a free voter ID option to lawfully registered Arizona voters who need it for voting.

The people of Arizona are already used to providing basic identification in their daily lives to purchase alcohol or cigarettes, obtain a driver’s license, board a commercial flight, and more.

And this common-sense solution has plenty of support. Statewide polling from last year shows that an overwhelming majority of Arizona voters support voter ID requirements. In fact, every race and ethnicity support it along with the majority of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.

That’s right. Even the majority of Democrats support voter ID requirements. Maybe someone should tell the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections. It looks like even their own supporters are inclined to support our ballot measure.

Help Stop Illegals from Voting!

U.S Citizenship is a qualification for voting in both the Arizona constitution and Arizona law. Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 200 in 2004 to ensure only US Citizens could register to vote by requiring that “the county recorder shall reject any application for registration that is not accompanied by satisfactory evidence of United States citizenship.”

Unfortunately, through the well-funded lawfare of the left, this requirement has been whittled away and the Federal Only Voter list has exploded. HB2492 will safeguard our voter rolls by ensuring only qualified, U.S Citizens are registered to vote, are able vote in Presidential elections, and eligible to vote by mail.

Will you sign our petition to PROTECT our voter registration process and SUPPORT HB2492?

How More Illegals Started Voting in AZ Elections and How House Bill 2492 Is Going to Fix It

by admin | Feb 8, 2022 | Elections, News and Updates

Two weeks ago, we outlined the history of the federal only voter list. As a summary, in 2004 Arizona voters approved Prop 200 which required county recorders to reject any application for registration that did not include Documentary Proof of Citizenship (DPOC). After passage, Arizona did reject applications without DPOC—those made on both the state voter registration form and federal voter registration form established by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in 1993.

In 2014, Arizona began accepting federal voter registration forms that did not include DPOC and registering voters as “Federal Only Voters” eligible to vote for President, U.S House, and U.S. Senate following the 7-2 Supreme Court decision, Inter Tribal Council, deciding that the NVRA preempts Prop 200’s DPOC requirement.

Then, in 2019, Arizona began accepting all applications for registration that did not include DPOC after Secretary of State Michelle Reagan and Maricopa Recorder Adrian Fontes entered into a consent decree with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) agreeing that the state could accept applications for registration without DPOC and somehow stay in compliance with the Prop 200 requirement to the contrary – to reject them.

HB2492 tackles this complicated issue with five main provisions.

First, HB2492 mandates that county recorders shall reject any application for registration made on our own state voter registration form that does not include DPOC. If an election official accepts one of these applications, he or she is guilty of a class 5 felony.

Our power to do this is affirmed several times. In Inter Tribal Council Justice Scalia, for the court, writes, “States retain the flexibility to design and use their own registration forms.”

Additionally, the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC), to whom Congress delegated power to design the federal registration form, in 2006 responded to a request by Arizona to include our DPOC requirement on the federal form by affirming that “Arizona may apply Proposition 200 requirements to the use of its state registration form in Federal elections (if the form meets the minimum requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).”

Second, HB2492 requires election officials to check a multitude of databases to determine the citizenship status of an applicant using the federal form who did not include DPOC. Again, in Inter Tribal Council, Justice Scalia writes that the NVRA “does not preclude States from ‘deny[ing] registration based on information in their possession establishing the applicant’s ineligibility’”.

Further, a 2014 response from the EAC on an additional request to include the DPOC requirement on the federal form acknowledged that the NVRA does not prevent us from rejecting applications if we ascertain information indicating the applicant is not a U.S citizen and outlines several databases states can use to check for the information. HB2492 utilizes each of these databases recommended by the EAC.

Third, depending on what is found from the database checks there are three possible outcomes. If the election official finds the applicant in a database and confirms that the applicant is a U.S. citizen, the applicant would be properly registered to vote. However, if the election official finds in a database that the applicant is not a U.S. citizen, the election official would be required to reject the application and inform the Attorney General and county attorney because the applicant lied on a voter registration form, which is a crime. Lastly, if election officials cannot find the applicant in any database, they are required to send a notice to the applicant requesting DPOC within 30 days.

Fourth, HB2492 makes DPOC a requirement to vote in Presidential elections. The power of states over the conduct of Presidential elections is plenary. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the US Constitution states that “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.”

Going back further in court precedent, Chief Justice Fuller writes,“it is seen that from the formation of the government until now the practical construction of the clause has conceded plenary power to the state legislatures in the matter of the appointment of electors.” McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1 (1892).

Fifth, HB2492 would make DPOC a requirement to vote early by mail. There is no right to vote by mail and as recognized by Justice Alito in Brnovich v DNC, “Arizona law generally makes it easy to vote.” And when the “totality of circumstances” is considered, HB2492 would not place a significant burden on voters by requiring DPOC to vote early by mail.

Taken together, each of these five provisions will largely prevent individuals from being registered if they do not provide DPOC and, as for persons already on the Federal Only Voter list, assert our constitutional power to prevent these individuals from voting for Presidential electors and from voting by mail.

Help Stop Illegals from Voting!

U.S Citizenship is a qualification for voting in both the Arizona constitution and Arizona law. Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 200 in 2004 to ensure only US Citizens could register to vote by requiring that “the county recorder shall reject any application for registration that is not accompanied by satisfactory evidence of United States citizenship.”

Unfortunately, through the well-funded lawfare of the left, this requirement has been whittled away and the Federal Only Voter list has exploded. HB2492 will safeguard our voter rolls by ensuring only qualified, U.S Citizens are registered to vote, are able vote in Presidential elections, and eligible to vote by mail.

Will you sign our petition to PROTECT our voter registration process and SUPPORT HB2492?