By Elizabeth Troutman |
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) is suing Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes due to certain rules in the latest Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) from December 2023, which the group believes are unlawful. The pro-free market nonprofit filed the legal challenge in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona for the County of Maricopa late last week.
AFEC is asking the court to strike down the provisions challenged by the lawsuit which are believed to contradict or exceed statutory authority.
“Secretary Fontes has produced one of the most radical elections procedures manuals in our state’s history,” said Scot Mussi, president of AFEC. “If the illegal provisions of this manual are allowed to stand, the integrity and transparency of state elections would continue to dissipate at the hands of leftwing ideologues.”
The complaint alleges that the 2023 EPM improperly places protected political speech at risk of criminal prosecution and has an unconstitutional chilling effect on protected political speech.
The provisions of the EPM that AFEC contends are unconstitutional include rules that: restrict observation of drop boxes and polling places, ban photography at election sites, and regulate speaking to people at election sites.
“These activities — watching drop boxes, speaking to people at election sites, and photographing activity at election sites — all constitute forms of speech,’’ the lawsuit says.
In addition to these claims, the lawsuit is challenging the 2023 EPM’s rules requiring political parties to open their primaries to federal only voters.
“The 2023 EPM also contradicts statutory requirements and exceeds statutory authority by opening the Presidential Preference Election to federal only voters, in essence, creating a new law out of whole cloth,” AFEC said in a news release.
The Free Enterprise Club details three counts for causes of action regarding the EPM, including speech, free association, and vagueness.
“We hope the court agrees with our arguments and forces the Secretary to adhere to state law,” Mussi said.
This isn’t the first lawsuit that’s been filed over the 2023 EPM. In January, Arizona’s leading legislative Republicans sued Fontes over the EPM. The Arizona Republican Party, Republican National Committee, and Yavapai County GOP filed their own lawsuit late last week.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
