by admin | Sep 23, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates
Frustrated by efforts to reduce
election fraud and initiative abuse, a coalition led by a petition gathering
firm and several Democrat operatives have decided to run
an initiative. Dubbed the “Democracy and Accountability Act,” their
proposed ballot measure would roll back several key election reforms, including
the current prohibition on ballot harvesting in Arizona.
For those not familiar with
ballot harvesting, this is a tactic used by labor unions and paid canvassers to
go door to door and collect early ballots from voters. Often, political
operations will go to apartment complexes or other high-density areas and ‘harvest’
ballots in key races, where a few votes might make a difference.
Ballot harvesting is incredibly
intrusive and runs counter to the American tradition of a secret ballot. Unlike
polling locations on election day where advocates are required to stay 75 feet
from the voting stations to give voters privacy, activists and other hired guns
can directly engage and pressure citizens while they are voting at their
homes.
It also is an invitation for
voter fraud, especially given the fact that Arizona is predominantly an early
voter state. Ballot harvesting pressure tactics have
been documented, and both parties have been found to abuse the process.
Given the opportunity for mischief, Arizona wisely banned the practice in 2016
and limited early ballot returns to immediate family members.
There is no reason to bring
ballot harvesting back, unless the goal is to manipulate the election process
and to make money for political operatives and unions that run these
operations.
It also explains why the
initiative includes several changes to the registration requirements for paid
petition circulators as well. For years, petition firms have opposed any
reforms that would prevent initiative fraud and abuse, primarily because it
holds paid circulators accountable for wrongdoing (and by extension, the
petition firms that hire them).
That’s bad for business, so their
solution was to remove the requirement that the Secretary of State review the
paid circulator registration forms for accuracy and to eliminate all penalties
for skipping town and ignoring lawfully issued subpoenas during signature
challenges.
The backers of this measure
likely know that bringing back ballot harvesting and encouraging paid
circulator registration fraud will not be popular with voters. In order to
avoid this uncomfortable discussion, they included additional language that
would crack down on potential conflicts of interest by politicians at the
legislature.
Though we appreciate the concern
petition firms have about corruption and conflicts of interest at the
legislature, it rings rather hollow when they are simultaneously looking to
increase corruption (and profit) at the ballot box.
It is too early to say whether
this measure will have enough money and support to qualify for the ballot. Even
if it does, we are confident that voters won’t have too much trouble seeing
through this obvious attempt to undermine the integrity of Arizona’s electoral
process.
by admin | Jul 11, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates
Yesterday when the City of
Phoenix and Valley Metro announced that they had received a grant from the
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the South Phoenix light rail extension,
they did not disclose to taxpayers that the projected cost to build the line
has nearly DOUBLED—from $700 million to $1.35 Billion dollars. At $245 Million per mile, the South Phoenix
line is now one of the most expensive light rail extensions in the country.
“It is amazing that no one in
City Hall or Valley Metro notified the public of these rampant cost overruns,”
said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “The scariest
part for taxpayers is that they haven’t even broke ground on the project, so
the price tag will likely go even higher before they are finished.”
To pay for the ballooning cost of
the extension, Phoenix taxpayers are on the hook for $540 million, up from $195
million in 2018. “Neither Phoenix or Valley Metro have explained how they are
going to pay for this, or what happens when the cost goes even higher,” Mussi
Continued. “Taxpayers have a right to know what roadway projects will be
cancelled to fund this boondoggle.”
This isn’t the first time Valley
Metro has been forced to revise the projected cost for the South Phoenix
extension. In November of 2015, Valley Metro estimated the capitol cost for the
project to be no more than $530 Million Dollars.
In August, Phoenix residents will
have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 105, which would stop the expansion
of the South Phoenix line and divert those funds to other needed roadway and
transportation improvements. “With light rail costs spiraling out of control,
voters would be wise to stop the bleeding before it is too late.” Mussi said.
The 2015 cost estimate for the South Phoenix project can be viewed HERE. The most recent cost estimate for the South Phoenix project can be viewed HERE.
by admin | Jul 2, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates
The City of Phoenix has been
living beyond their means for way too long.
Their fiscal irresponsibility has led to a crushing $5.7 Billion in unfunded
pension debt and no real plan on how to pay it off or honor their commitments
to current or future retirees.
The City of Phoenix Employees’
Retirement System (COPERS), the retirement plan for general employees excluding
sworn police and fire personnel, is woefully underfunded. The City contributed less than $30M a year to
COPERS in the early 2000’s; this is expected to balloon to over $180M by next
year. Yet these payments still won’t put a dent in
the mountain of debt. As of only two
years ago, the fund was only 57 percent funded – having $2.35B in assets to
cover $4.13B in liabilities.
Despite several propositions
passing in the past to right the ship – Phoenix is still severely
underwater. That is because the city has
a major spending problem. And instead of
addressing this problem, politicians have continued to kick the can down the
road, using accounting tricks and other sneaky maneuvers to avoid addressing
the crisis.
That is why a group of citizens
and Councilman Sal DiCiccio has pushed to get Prop 106 on the August 27th
ballot. If approved by voters, this measure will end the budget gimmicks,
require honest accounting of pension costs and prioritize paying down the debt
of the pension system. The measure will also prohibit the city’s budget from outpacing
inflation plus population and put a cap on spending until pension liabilities
are funded at 90 percent.
This will put the city’s
pension system on a sustainable path and ensure that pension obligations are
met.
Prop 106 is a responsible
plan for a growing problem that will benefit both taxpayers and retirees. We encourage
Phoenix citizens to Vote Yes on Prop 106.
by admin | Mar 1, 2019 | Elections, News and Updates
Every American, no matter their political party, should have a significant interest in the wholesale integrity of the election process. And yet the business of ensuring citizens voting is honest, clean and untampered with, has been a fiercely partisan issue, dividing Republicans and Democrats into two camps: the party for election integrity and the party against “voter suppression.”
The integrity of the elections systems is two-fold: ensuring there are legal and procedural safeguards to maintain clean and accurate voting rolls and preventing, discovering and deterring fraudulent activity.
One would think that maintaining up to date voter rolls would be an innocuous issue. After all, neglecting to do so all but guarantees records will be cluttered with deceased persons and those who have moved out of state. In a 2012 study, the Pew Research Foundation found that 24 million voter registrations in the United States were either invalid or significantly inaccurate – that is one in every eight registrants. This vast vulnerability directly dovetails into susceptibility of election fraud.
The issue of election fraud is as old as elections themselves and take form in a variety of ways including – double voting, ineligible voting, and voter registration fraud, etc. Yet, this type of crime is notoriously difficult to catch, document, and enforce, which makes the problem significantly underreported.
Following the Arizona general elections of 2018, many voters voiced concerns over how specifically the Maricopa County recorder’s office conducted operations. And given the thin margins in many of the state-wide races, a little bit of fraud can have a big effect.
As a result, several Arizona lawmakers have introduced legislation to insert more practical checks into the system to both scrub voter rolls and fills cracks where the system is susceptible to fraud.
The best batch of election integrity bills have been introduced by Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R) and include:
- SB 1046 requires voters who receive a ballot by mail to return that ballot by mail. If they do not, they may vote in person on election day with a standard ballot. Practically, this bill helps prevent the illegal practice of ballot harvesting.
- SB 1072 requires voters to show identification when voting at an early voting location. This makes the identification requirements consistent across all methods of in-person voting. And although Democrats want to claim the basic function of showing I.D is burdensome to voters, 76 percent of Americans believe such requirements should be mandatory.
- SB 1188 requires a county recorder to remove a voter from the permanent early voting list and cease sending them early ballots if the elector has not voted in two consecutive primary or general elections.
- SB 1090 requires electors voting at an emergency voting center to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they did in fact suffer an emergency. Also requires the County Board of Supervisors to sign off on location, quantity and hours of emergency voting centers.
Given the reasonable proposals being suggested, one might be surprised by the very vocal fidelity of the left to the notion that 1. Fraud doesn’t exist, 2. When it does it is insignificant, and 3. Any legal framework that inserts predictable rules and guidelines into the system disenfranchises voters.
This is less surprising when you consider the bills drafted by Democrat legislators this year which take a free-for-all approach. Their philosophy seems to be the more votes cast the better – even if those votes are duplicative, unverified, or non-citizens. These bills include repealing the prohibition of ballot harvesting, same-day voter registration, and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons.
These election integrity bills are important steps to shore up weakness in Arizona’s election process. Despite the left’s effort to diminish the relevance of the election integrity issue, the real disenfranchisement of voters comes from diluting the votes of honest electors. Allowing for the erosion of the system casts doubt into the minds of citizens as to if their vote even counts – and that is true voter suppression.
by admin | Nov 7, 2018 | Elections, News and Updates
The 2018 elections were filled with contentious candidate races and divisive politics. But one issue voters decisively agreed upon was Proposition 306, which ended the practice of publicly-financed candidates using their taxpayer money to enrich their political party.
Proposition 306 was passed by the legislature and referred to the ballot box to stop the abuses discovered in the 2016 elections, where over $100,000 of taxpayer money was funneled to the Democratic Party. That abuse continued this election cycle and would have continued to proliferate if voters hadn’t approved Prop 306.
“We are very pleased that voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 306 and ended the abuse of the Clean Election System. And considering that the Citizens Clean Elections Act originally passed with only 50.1 percent of the vote, this was a clear message that voters wanted more accountability and oversight over the program,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and Chairman of the Stop Taxpayer Money for Political Parties campaign.
Along with the end to the corruptive practice of enriching parties off the taxpayer dime; Proposition 306 will also give much needed oversight of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission by requiring them to follow the same rule-making procedures as every other agency in the State.
Although the elections results were a mixed bag of results for both sides of the aisle – the passage of Proposition 306 was a win for all Arizonans of every political stripe!
by admin | Oct 31, 2018 | Elections, News and Updates, Prop 306
The Citizens Clean Elections Commission claims they care about keeping special interests out of the political process by providing candidates with taxpayer funds to run for office.
But as was discovered in 2016 election cycle, politicians and political operatives know how to cheat the system and the unaccountable Clean Elections Commission just doesn’t seem to care.
An examination of campaign finance reports filed by publicly funded Clean Election Candidates in 2018 show over $100,000 being funneled to the state, county and local political parties, as well as to other political operations such as the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (ADLCC).
As was the case in prior elections, the democratic candidates running in the least competitive legislative districts are the biggest contributors to these electioneering efforts.
One of the worst offenders is candidate Lynsey Robinson from conservative legislative district 12 in the East Valley. She gave a staggering $22,590 to the Democratic Party Operations, which is over 50 percent of the total amount she receives from Clean Elections! If her intention was to win her race, sending over half her money to the Party seems like a poor strategy to do so.
Other giveaways to political groups include:
$21,442 from Jo Craycraft, candidate for Senate in LD 1
$18,980 from Hazel Chandler, candidate for House in LD 20
$18,500 from Chris Gilfillan, candidate for House in LD 20
$14,170 from Mark Manoil, candidate for State Treasurer
$12,400 from Kiana Sears, candidate for the Corporation Commission
$9,520 from Kathy Hoffman, candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction
Interestingly enough, the largest benefactor of these public funds was the ADLCC, a Political Action Committee chaired by legislative democrats to elect democrats around the state of Arizona. Traditionally, victory PACs such as this provide money and support to candidates—they don’t receive money from them. This is because committees such as this fundraise for the express purpose of playing in election races. However, they do so independently of any candidate because it is against the law for organizations and PACs to coordinate with candidates on their election activities.
That makes the expenditure to the ADLCC even more suspicious. Either a candidate is giving them money to use in other more competitive races (which is wrong and must be stopped), or they are giving them money to provide services to their campaign (which is likely illegal.) Either way, the ADLCC’s taxpayer gravy train is an offensive abuse of the system and should be stopped immediately.
The unaccountable Clean Elections Commission has made it clear that they don’t care how our money is wasted, which is why voters must vote YES on Proposition 306. Prop 306 would prohibit candidates from funneling taxpayer funds to political parties and political special interest groups. If there was any question that the exploitation of the system would continue and proliferate – this year’s election season proves otherwise.
Voters should put an end to it by Voting Yes on Prop 306.
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