The Maricopa County Republican Committee is calling on Arizona state congress members to run a bill that mandates calling voter registration cards by a more accurate name.
“Will one or both of your members please run a bill that mandates all 15 Arizona County Recorders replace erroneous so-called “Voter *ID* Card” terminology, misrepresenting what are, in fact, Voter *Registration* Cards?,” a Sunday Tweet reads.
The Tweet was in response to approximately 260,000 Maricopa County voters recently receiving new voter registration cards, which Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer called ID Cards.
“The new ID cards will look exactly like the regular cards but will include a note that indicates the boundary changes,” Richer said.
Voter IDs are a “long & strongly established principle” in Arizona, according to the Maricopa County Republican Party.
“A Voter Registration Card never serves as an authorized form of Voter ID, in & of itself,” the party tweeted. “It may potentially serve as a partial supplement, in combination w/ other docs—but never equivalent—to Voter ID.”
According to Maricopa County Republicans, the Arizona Elections Procedures Manual refers to voter registration cards as such, rather than as a “Voter ID” or “Voter ID Card.” The terms should not be used interchangeably, according to the Republicans.
Arizona voters are required to show a valid government-issued ID, as well as a voter registration card.
“However long ago ‘Voter ID Card’ got started (‘It’s been around so long & it’s only a word!’) & however strong Maricopa County Government’s institutional leverage may be, We The People hold the ultimate leverage: upholding a most basic & essential principle of Election Integrity,” the Maricopa County Republicans said.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
Families and educators will gather on Saturday for a fair celebrating National School Choice Week.
“National School Choice Week is a time for families to explore different options available to meet their children’s educational needs. It is an occasion for schools to showcase what they do best for their students,” said Barbara Duncan, vice president of quality schools at Choose a School.
“It is an opportunity for leaders to see the schools in their districts in action and to ensure all students have a right to an excellent educational option,” Duncan continued.
The school fair and family fun night hosted by Choose a School Arizona will take place at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix on Saturday, Jan. 20 from 6-8 p.m..
Choose a School Arizona uses social media, strategic events, and one-on-one parent outreach to help families find the best education for their children and help quality schools tell their stories and find students.
More than 50 school booths and vendors will attend, including charter schools, college prep schools, microschools, Autism academies, Catholic schools, and homeschool support groups.
This will be the largest Phoenix-area celebration of National School Choice Week, which highlights “education options and the joy of learning.”
Activities will include music from the AZ School of the Arts Jazz band, a presentation of colors by the PVS School’s Space Force ROTC students, face painting, a flash mob, and a celebratory red and yellow balloon drop.
In addition to visiting booths, families can explore the museum, make balloons, eat snacks, and enjoy a photo booth.
Community sponsors for this event include Mrs. Klein’s Pickle Co. in Phoenix.
More than 750 attendees are expected to attend the event, which is open to the press and the public.
Information at the fair will be available in both English and Spanish thanks to Conoce tus Opciones Escolares, a project of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. Families can learn more and RSVP for the free event at phoenixschoolfair.com or phoenixferiaescolar.com.
The Children’s Museum of Phoenix is located at 215 N. 7th St.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
The mayor of Glendale, Arizona is urging fellow mayors to proclaim January anti-human trafficking month .
“I was surprised to discover that only eleven cities have adopted an anti-human trafficking declaration in Arizona,” Mayor Jerry Weiers said in a news release. “As leaders in a border state, we are, or should be, fully aware that human trafficking is placing a great burden on our social service structures, but it is the plight of victims that should prompt us to act decisively.”
The United States has some of the highest rates globally for human trafficking, according to Weiers’ proclamation. More than 40 million men, women, and children are victims of human trafficking per year, according to the International Labor Organization.
More than half of the victims in active human trafficking cases in the U.S. involved children, according to the Human Trafficking Institute’s 2019 Federal Report.
Weiers joined Glendale’s City Council in proclaiming January Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness Month at the weekly council meeting on January 12.
“We all have an obligation to protect the vulnerable from predators,” Weiers said. “As a result, as part of the proclamation we passed, I urged our residents and partners to work together to eliminate trafficking from our community and support the efforts of front-line organizations and law enforcement in their battle against human trafficking and to take a stand and say not in our city.”
Weiers gave the proclamation to members of the Glendale Police Department and their partners in the faith and social service sectors, who are working on combating human trafficking nationwide.
“Not one person, agency, or organization can help combat this crime alone,” Stacey Sutherland of the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network said.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
WalletHub, a personal-finance website, measured the gaps between black people and white people across 22 key indicators of equality in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data set includes median annual household income, standardized-test scores, and voter turnout.
Hawaii placed first for most racially integrated state, followed by Arizona, New Mexico, and Washington State. Other top ten states were Kentucky, Alaska, Delaware, Texas, Georgia, and Maryland.
“It’s encouraging to see that many of the states that were the most resistant to integration have made substantial progress toward racial equality in the past fifty years or so,” Wallethub analyst Cassandra Happe said in a news release. “In fact, four of the states that have made the most racial progress overall are actually now among the top 10 most integrated states, which shows that both people’s attitudes and government policies have changed dramatically.”
Arizona ranked highly in areas concerning equality in the labor force participation rate and health.
“It’s encouraging to see that many of the states that were the most resistant to integration have made substantial progress toward racial equality in the past fifty years or so,” Happe said. “In fact, four of the states that have made the most racial progress overall are actually now among the top 10 most integrated states, which shows that both people’s attitudes and government policies have changed dramatically.”
The Grand Canyon State’s total score from WalletHub was 73.86.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
America should deny demands from Mexico for billions of dollars in order to stop the flow of illegal immigration, according to U.S. Senate candidate Mark Lamb on Tuesday.
Lamb, a Republican and the current sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, criticized Mexican President Lopez Obrador’s list of demands which the United States would need to meet in exchange for Mexico to help slow illegal immigration across the southern border.
“I consider the demands made by Mexico as DOA – dead on arrival,” Lamb said. “The last time I looked, the Mexican President doesn’t get to set U.S. domestic and foreign policy. I call upon the entire Arizona Congressional delegation to unite and publicly reject these conditions imposed by Mexico.”
Obrador demanded the U.S. give $20 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries; grant work visas to 10 million Hispanics who have worked in the U.S. for at least 10 years; and end sanctions against Venezuela and halt the blockade of Cuba.
Mexico is responsible for slowing illegal immigration into America, according to Lamb.
“As our southern neighbor, the responsibility is on them to do everything they can to work with us – without preconditions – to stop the hundreds of thousands of illegals crossing our mutual border,” Lamb said. “We shouldn’t take kindly to having a gun put to our head just to have Mexico do what’s right.”
Lamb said the Mexican president’s demands are an example of President Joe Biden’s “lost control of the border.”
Border Patrol encountered 2.5 million migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2023, topping the previous year’s record, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
“It’s bad enough that Biden doesn’t have a plan to stop the hundreds of thousands of illegals crossing the border and the fentanyl that comes with them, now Biden is allowing our nation to be held hostage by the President of Mexico,” Lamb continued.
Lamb is running for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat. He has said that if elected, he will work to secure the border with Trump-era policies.
“We’ve got to shut the border down, secure the border and we’ve got to restore the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program,” Lamb told Fox News.
“We’re gonna have a mass deportation situation on our hands and so we’ve got to get back to securing the border – first and foremost – which would stop the fentanyl,” Lamb continued to Fox News. “It would weaken the cartels and allow border patrol to get back to doing their jobs because right now they are completely handcuffed.”
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
