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On Friday, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed a lawsuit to challenge the validity of what many are calling “a radical” initiative that seeks to weaken Arizona’s election integrity laws.
The complaint contends that well over half of the signatures on the election initiative were gathered illegally. The Club has included evidence of the illegally collected signatures along with proof that many of the initiative’s paid circulators provided false information or failed to register with the Secretary of State.
“After analyzing over 45,000 petition sheets and 420,000 signatures, it’s clear that well over half of the signatures on this election initiative were collected in violation of state law,” said Club President Scot Mussi. “That should be more than enough to invalidate this initiative.”
The complaint requests that the court disqualify any signatures collected illegally or by individuals who were not properly registered with the Secretary of State at the time the signatures were gathered.
1. This action challenges the legal sufficiency of the registrations of certain circulators of the statewide initiative petition bearing the serial number I-16-2022 (the “Initiative Petition”). The Initiative Petition seeks to qualify for placement on the statewide ballot in the November 8, 2022 general election a sprawling measure that upends Arizona’s election administration and voter registration laws, sharply reduces candidate contribution limits while channeling more taxpayer subsidies to so-called “Clean Elections” candidates, curtails safeguards governing the initiative and referendum process, and imposes new taxes (the “Act”).
Signatures collected by certain circulators of the Initiative Petition who were required to have been, but were not, properly registered with the Secretary of State are void as a matter of law. Specifically, these individuals either:
a. Failed to register with the Secretary of State prior to collecting signatures in support of the Initiative Petition, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(A);
b. Failed to provide a signed and notarized affidavit averring to the accuracy of the specific information included in their registration for measure I-16-2022, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(5);
c. Failed to provide on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State a full and complete permanent and (if applicable) temporary residential address—to include the relevant apartment or unit number, if the circulator resided in a multiunit complex—and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(1);
d. Misrepresented on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State one or more required items of contact information, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(1); ore. Failed to provide on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State the statutorily required address for service of process, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(4).
3. In addition, certain registered circulators failed to write their full and correct assigned circulator identification number on the front and back of one or more of the petition sheets they purportedly circulated, rending those sheets and the accompanying signatures not strictly compliant with A.R.S. §§ 19-121(A)(2) and 19-121.01(A)(1)(c).
Specifically, the popular watchdog organization believes that the initiative, if successful, will:
- Upend Arizona’s election administration and voter registration laws.
- Sharply reduce candidate contribution limits while channeling more taxpayer subsidies to so-called “Clean Elections” candidates.
- Curtail safeguards governing the initiative and referendum process.
- Impose new taxes.
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