By Corinne Murdock |

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) is urging the Arizona legislature to appeal a ruling from the Arizona District Court striking down portions of two laws requiring proof of citizenship from voters. AFEC lobbied for and assisted in the drafting of the contested laws; now, it says it plans to file briefs in support of the appeals it hopes the legislature will file. The state has over 19,000 federal-only voters who haven’t submitted proof of citizenship. 

Federal judge Susan Bolton ruled last week against provisions within HB2492 and HB2243 requiring proof of birthplace for voter registrations, investigations by county recorders based on the belief a voter is a noncitizen, and the voter’s disclosure of residence in order to register for federal elections. AFEC President Scot Mussi said in a press release that while it was a relief Bolton didn’t overturn the laws in their entirety, the provisions she did strike down were consequential. 

“Though Arizonans can take solace in the fact that an activist judge didn’t completely dismantle these reasonable and commonsense laws, we are extremely disappointed in her decision to strike down several lawful provisions that we expect will be upheld on appeal,” said Mussi. “Officials across all branches and jurisdictions of our government should be working to uphold the integrity of our laws and to ensure that the votes of American citizens are not canceled or compromised by even a single illegal vote.”

Although Bolton struck down core provisions of the laws, she disagreed with the claims of activist groups that the legislators passed them with racist intent. However, Bolton did write that AFEC’s language in lobbying materials distributed to legislators was potentially discriminatory against Latinos. Per court documents, AFEC referred to illegal immigrants as “illegals.” 

“[AFEC] disseminated lobbying materials by email to Arizona legislators that described how the Voting Laws would prevent ‘illegals’ from voting in Arizona elections,” said Bolton. “[T]he use of ‘code words’ may demonstrate discriminatory intent, and the term ‘illegals’ can evince racial animus for members of the Latino community in Arizona.”

“Illegals” is slang for individuals of any race and any country who migrated into the U.S. illegally, meaning the term isn’t restricted in its scope to Latino illegal immigrants.

Mussi also stated in AFEC’s press release that Bolton’s assessment amounted to a false accusation of discrimination. He said Bolton’s implication of racism was “laughable” considering that the illegal immigrants causing the border crisis have hailed from nearly all countries across the globe. 

“It is outrageous that Judge Bolton would use an official court opinion to falsely accuse concerned and law-abiding American citizens of having racist intent in our efforts to pass legislation to strengthen election integrity in this state,” said Mussi. “This accusation is especially laughable when we consider the state of the open border, where millions of men, women, and children from more than 160 countries of origin have illegally crossed into America – many of whom are taking up residence and receiving benefits on the backs of hardworking taxpayers. It shouldn’t take a grassroots advocacy organization to point out the constitutional responsibility of a federal court, yet sadly, this is the present state of our nation.”

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.