by Daniel Stefanski | Aug 4, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona Republican legislators are seeking cooperation from county election officials on a state law pertaining to elections.
Late last month, a coalition of Republican state House members wrote to county recorders and election officials around the state after an initial panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allowed a law on proof of citizenship requirements for State Voter Registration forms to go into effect.
The letter, which was signed by Republican members of the House Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee, called on these officials around the state to “reject Arizona’s state-specific voter registration form submissions that lack documentary proof of citizenship,” and to “remove foreign citizens from your voter rolls.”
These legislators highlighted the law that was allowed by the Ninth Circuit – A.R.S. 16.121.01 (C), which reads: “C. Except for a form produced by the United States election assistance commission, any application for registration shall be accompanied by satisfactory evidence of citizenship as prescribed in § 16-166, subsection F, and the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall reject any application for registration that is not accompanied by satisfactory evidence of citizenship. A county recorder or other officer in charge of elections who knowingly fails to reject an application for registration as prescribed by this subsection is guilty of a class 6 felony.”
They added, “This law, which the Legislature passed in 2022, is critical to the integrity of Arizona’s elections. It also prevails over the 2018 Consent Decree entered into by the Arizona Secretary of State and Maricopa County Recorder in League of United Latin American Citizens of Arizona v. Reagan, No. 2: l 7-cv-04102- DGC (D. Ariz. June 18, 2018). Consequently, enforcement of A.R.S. § 16-121.0l(C) should ease your respective offices’ administrative burdens because you are no longer required to search the Arizona Department of Transportation database to search for evidence of citizenship on behalf of an applicant who does not supply citizenship documentation.”
Just days later, another panel on the Ninth Circuit reversed the order that had justified and warranted this letter to county officials.
The members who signed the letter were Representatives Jacqueline Parker, Alexander Kolodin, Justin Heap, Rachel Jones, and Austin Smith.
The most-recent decision from the Ninth Circuit is expected to quickly make its way to the Supreme Court of the United States in an attempt to obtain emergency consideration.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 4, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the practice of union release time was unconstitutional.
Release time occurs when government agencies direct their employees to be released from their job duties in order to work for their union advancing private interests such as lobbying and recruitment. While on release time, those government employees would still receive their regular government pay, benefits, and retirement.
Chief Justice Clint Bolick on behalf of the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in Gilmore v. Gallego that release time constituted a violation of Arizona’s Gift Clause prohibiting the granting of public money to private entities, or “gifts,” because it used public funds raised by general taxation in the aid of enterprises engaged in private business.
“[R]elease time should be separately scrutinized to determine if it has a public purpose and provides sufficient tangible, enforceable consideration to the City,” wrote Bolick. “The release time provisions at issue are precisely that: a ‘release’ from the ordinary duties for which [city] employees were hired, to instead perform, in the main, lawful union activities.”
The Gift Clause prohibits the state and its subdivisions from giving or loaning credit, or making any donations or grants, to any individuals, associations, or corporations.
The Goldwater Institute sued the city of Phoenix in October 2019 over the practice of time release, on behalf of two non-union city employees and taxpayers.
In a press release on their court win, the Goldwater Institute’s Timothy Sandefur and Jon Riches said that the end to government-funded union activities through release time would ensure private interests weren’t financed by taxpayers.
“Today’s ruling is a watershed decision that ensures taxpayer dollars will be spent to advance public interests, not private special interests, including the politically powerful special interests of government labor unions,” read the joint statement.
As disclosed in court documents, release time cost the city of Phoenix nearly $500,000 annually.
That six-figure cost became a factor in the court’s decision. Bolick noted that the city had no direct control or supervision over the employees under release time, “an essential criterion” to establish the public purpose standard for Gift Clause adherence.
“[T]he City costs are substantial, but the benefits are so negligible as to render them largely illusory. The Union receives four full-time employees, who are released from their public duties but paid as if they were performing public work, for the Union to direct as it sees fit,” said Bolick. “In return, the MOU provides ‘examples’ of the uses of release time, and the City argues that ‘release time promotes cooperative labor relations and facilitates an open dialogue about employment issues.’ At best, these are anticipated indirect benefits that do not count as enforceable obligations for consideration purposes.”
The city of Phoenix argued that release time yielded benefits to city work by improving union-government relations. The Arizona Supreme Court rejected that argument.
“To the extent that the City values the purposes to which release time might be devoted, it has not explained why it could not assign employees, under its direction and control, to perform precisely those tasks (such as serving on task forces), rather than placing them at the Union’s disposal,” wrote Bolick. “Indeed, the costs and benefits here are so one-sided that it is difficult to envision how such expansive time release provisions could ever survive the consideration prong unless the employees genuinely paid for them through foregone wages or otherwise[.]”
However, the Arizona Supreme Court did reject arguments that the release time provisions violated the state’s constitutional protections for free speech and free association.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 4, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A radical Democrat state representative is attempting to return to her middle-of-the-road legislative district for a new term in office.
State Representative Lorena Austin is running for reelection in Arizona Legislative District 9, which covers the city of Mesa. According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, the district is likely one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread over the past nine statewide elections. (Democrats are slightly favored in the district, having won the district in five of those nine elections.)
Austin is a member of the Appropriations and Commerce Committees in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Earlier this year, Austin initiated what many thought was one of the most controversial events of the 2024 Arizona Legislative Session, when she partnered with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona to host a Drag Story Hour in the Copper Basin Room in the House Basement.
That event was immediately met with condemnation from Republicans. Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma addressed the event on his “X” account, writing, “Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood. Use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker. As a result, I’ve ordered that Democrats have lost the privilege of accessing House meeting rooms until trust can be restored.”
Austin responded to the Speaker’s comments, saying, “This is the people’s House and that includes the LGBTQ+ community, whether my colleagues on the other side of the aisle like that or not. It is nothing short of ridiculous that I have been described as dishonest, deceitful and perverse and have been subjected to calls for punishment and expulsion. What is true is that I hosted a drag performer who read stories about LGBTQ+ history and inclusion. There were no minors present, but also no content that would offend a minor.”
The Democrat lawmaker added, “We were completely transparent when we reserved the room, and the content was not, or should not be, controversial. In total approximately 20 people attended (all adults) because the House is currently only conducting business on Wednesdays, and today was a Tuesday. It was educational and completely within the mission of our LGTBQ+ Caucus. I will never apologize for teaching people to be inclusive, to accept others as they are, and to stand up to hate and bigotry.”
Republican Representative Alexander Kolodin also weighed in on the controversy. He said, “The People’s House should be a safe place for the children of Arizona and I am outraged at this violation of trust. In addition to this punishment, also I call on leadership to bar Rep. Austin from accessing any part of the House aside from public areas and the floor.”
As with many of her fellow Democrats running for the state legislature, Austin promotes endorsements from left-leaning organizations for her campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives, including Moms Demand Action, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Progressive Turnout Project, HRC in Arizona, AEA Fund for Public Education, NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona, Stonewall Democrats of Arizona, Arizona Education Association, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Emily’s List, and Human Rights Campaign PAC.
The Democrat lawmaker has a lengthy record of voting against bills meant to prevent crime waves from engulfing the Grand Canyon State – as has been experienced in jurisdictions like California. In 2023, Austin voted against HB 2478, which would have expanded the definition of aggravated assault to include a person knowingly assaulting an employee of a law enforcement agency while engaged in the execution of official duties. She voted against HB 2212, which would have established liability for aggravated criminal damage if a person interferes or prevents the performance of a normal function of utility infrastructure or property or the intended course or path of any utility service (2023). And she voted against SB 1262, which would have required a court to promptly issue a warrant for the rearrest of a person that has been charged with a felony offense that was committed during the person’s probation term.
The district is currently represented by two Democrats in the state House of Representatives. Austin and her fellow Democrat incumbent, Seth Blattman, ran unopposed in the recent primary election. Austin received 8,624 votes, and Blattman obtained 7,316 votes. They will face off against Republicans Mary Ann Mendoza and Kylie Barber, who also ran unopposed in the primary election. Mendoza garnered 8,571 votes, and Barber received 8,335 votes.
November’s General Election will be the second time that Mendoza has been pitted against Austin and Blattman. In 2022, Austin and Blattman defeated Mendoza and her running mate, Kathy Pearce, to assume their offices for the 2023 Arizona legislative session.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 3, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
On Wednesday evening, Senator JD Vance, Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican Party, took to the stage at Arizona Christian University in Glendale, Arizona. While President Donald Trump was rallying the crowds in Pennsylvania for the first time since the attempt on his life in Butler, Vance was showing Arizonans that the Senator from Ohio and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” can play on the same field that once brought Barry Goldwater to national prominence.
Flanked on stage by notable conservative Congressmen Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, and Andy Biggs as well as GOP Senate nominee Kari Lake and Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, Vance broke down the stakes for Arizona voters, describing the scenario of a Harris presidency.
“Let us count the ways in which Kamala Harris has screwed up this country over the last 3.5 years,“ Vance began according to CSPAN.
“Now, they’ll all lie to you about it, the media, but she was appointed the border czar and then unleashed the worst border crisis in the history of this country. On her watch, more than 10 million illegal aliens have invaded our country, and it wasn’t by accident. It was by design.”
“They said when they took office that they were going to do exactly what they did. They said they wanted to decriminalize illegal immigration and tear down Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Open up the floodgates and give illegal aliens free health care. And she wanted you the American citizens to pay the bill. That’s what she said.”
“And then, on her very first day in office, they went to work, but not for you. For them. They suspended deportations. They stopped building President Trump’s wall. They reinstated catch-and-release. And that’s how every state became a border state because they just released these people into our country. Then they fly in first class, give them first class hotel accommodations. You guys are paying for that too.”
Vance didn’t shy away from taking direct aim at Harris’ recent explosion onto the media scene either, and her stark departure from previous appearances as noted by President Trump when he spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists Conference in Chicago.
“So, you guys want to hear that truth about Kamala Harris? Kamala Harris is a phony who caters to whatever audience is in front of her. I don’t know if you saw this. But earlier this week, look up the clip, she went down to Georgia and started talking with a fake Southern accent. I’m serious. Now, what the hell was that all about? Kamala Harris grew up in Canada. They don’t talk like that in Vancouver or Quebec or wherever she came from.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s the same new liberal policies, but a different accent, whoever she’s talking to. Now on November 5th, she can go back to using her San Francisco accent because we are going to send her packing, and we’re going to elect Donald Trump President of the United States. “
Pointedly, Vance drew attention to Harris’ apparent complicity in deflecting concerns over the capacity of President Joe Biden to serve as well as criticizing the thoroughly non-democratic method of her nomination by DNC leaders without a primary vote.
“Now after they covered up for Joe Biden’s incompetence for 3.5 years. This is a scandal from both the Democrats and the media,” he began. “Now they’re gaslighting us about Kamala Harris’ radical record. The media likes to portray her, all of a sudden, she’s a sensible moderate. That’s what they say. Now, the same media that told us for 3.5 years, Joe Biden who couldn’t finish his sentence was Albert Einstein. Now they tell us Kamala Harris is Abraham Lincoln but anyone who is too blind to see Biden’s incompetence, or more likely too dishonest to admit it, is not fit to serve as our commander in chief.”
Vance added, “The Democrat party bosses have decided to install Kamala Harris as their new nominee, but think about this, she has not received a single vote for President of the United States. Now, the media calls this a coronation. I think we’d call it a coup and in America we don’t crown our leaders. We vote for them.”
Vance also prefaced his planned trip to Arizona’s southern border and called Harris out on her radical leftist record and the failure of the Biden-Harris regime to rein in the out-of-control border with Mexico.
He told rallygoers, “Now I’m going to the border tomorrow and her record of disaster is clear. 500,000 kids have been trafficked by the Mexican drug cartels because of her policies, hundreds of thousands of our citizens are dead from fentanyl overdoses because of her policies, hardworking Americans cannot afford groceries because of her policies. Now, the media wants to call her a moderate. But here’s a fact check for the fake news. Kamala Harris was the most liberal senator in the entire United States Senate. She is a dangerous San Francisco liberal, and thanks to the people in this room, she is never going to be the President of the United States of America.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 3, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Around two weeks after its initial ruling allowing Arizona to require proof of citizenship for voter registrations, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling from its motions panel.
That means that state voter registration forms may be accepted without proof of citizenship, as they have been since the LULAC Consent Decree went into effect over eight years ago.
The LULAC Consent Decree was the end result of a lawsuit against Arizona’s requirements of documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC). Under the consent decree, Arizona agreed to accept state voter registration forms without DPOC and register them as federal-only voters. Once a court approves a consent decree, it carries the same weight and enforcement of a final judgment.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) prohibits Arizona from requiring DPOC of voters registering with the federal voter registration form.
In the 2-1 ruling for Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes, the court determined that the motions panel overlooked specific considerations pertaining to election cases and “misunderstood the extent of confusion and chaos” such a change to election rules that the contested legislation, ARS 16-121.01(C), had brought.
The court stated that the state legislature’s new enactment of a DPOC requirement for state forms was an “upset [to] the status quo” because it altered voter registration rules shortly before the primary election last month, and well into the registration timeline for the upcoming election.
“The motions panel overlooked this fundamental principle of judicial restraint, resulting in manifest injustice to voters and election officials alike,” said the court.
The Ninth Circuit also wrote that the DPOC requirement caused elections officials to choose between violating the state law, a class 6 felony, or violating the consent decree provisions within the Election Procedures Manual, a class 2 misdemeanor. The court characterized this as a “manifest injustice” carried out by the motions panel.
“Elections officials are now subject to conflicting criminal penalties, orders, and policies. Identically situated voter registration applicants are treated differently depending on the voter registration application form they picked up,” said the court. “All Arizonans must now navigate an arcane web of shifting and confusing rules that will without a doubt dissuade some who are otherwise eligible and willing from exercising the fundamental right to vote.”
The court wrote that nothing would change the outcome of their ruling, unless the LULAC Consent Decree was modified or set aside.
“Intervenors-Defendants-Appellants offer no authority to suggest that a state legislature may nullify a final judgment entered by an Article III court which Intervenors-Defendants-Appellants have not sought to set aside, modify, or otherwise terminate,” stated the court.
The court also rejected the argument that striking DPOC would cause irreparable harm to either the Republican National Committee or lawmakers supportive of the DPOC requirement.
“[T]he RNC has not at any point explained why the use of the State Form to register applicants without accompanying DPOC to vote in federal elections, when identically situated applicants may register for at least federal elections without accompanying DPOC through the Federal Form even with a stay in place, inflicts an irreparable ‘competitive injury’ on the RNC,” said the court.
Counsel defending DPOC for state voter registration forms informed AZ Free News that they intend to file an emergency petition with the Supreme Court at some point within the next week.
The one judge to dissent from the Ninth Circuit Court ruling, Judge Patrick Bumatay, noted that his court had exercised an “irregular and strongly disfavored” power by reconsidering the motion panel’s order, usually reserved for actions by colleagues that amount to “a manifest injustice.” Bumatay disagreed. He said that the lawmakers and other Intervenor-Appellants have proved likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, balance of interests, and public interest.
“With the political nature of this case, we should be especially careful to avoid the use of unconventional or disfavored procedures,” said Butamay.
Butamay contended that the LULAC Consent Decree wasn’t binding on the Arizona legislature. He said that such a perception of permanent judicial power over lawmakers presented separation-of-powers concerns. Further, Butamay argued that the NVRA doesn’t preempt the DPOC requirement, and that the state would face irreparable harm by having its statutory authority enjoined.
Further, Bumatay noted that the significance of this reverse ruling had nothing to do with merit of the claims, but the random assignment of the reconsideration.
“All the public can take away from this episode is that four judges of the Ninth Circuit have voted to partially stay the injunction here, while two other judges voted against it,” said Butamay. “The two judges prevail — not because of any special insight, but because of the luck of an internal Ninth Circuit draw.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 3, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona’s Republican Primary for the open seat in the U.S. Senate between former Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb quickly became a heated one.
While Lake faced criticism for referring to Lamb as a “total coward when it comes to election integrity” who “surrendered to the establishment” during the GOP Senate Forum, Lamb decried her as “a divider,” rather than a “uniter.” He stated, “It’s time she takes some personal responsibility for losing an election that she was supposed to win,” referring to her 2022 defeat by Gov. Katie Hobbs in a statement published to X.
Although the results are not finalized in many of the races, according to state and county officials, the unofficial results stand thusly as of noon on July 31 according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.
The Arizona Republican U.S. Senate Nominee is Kari Lake — According to current results, Lake defeated Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb 55.3%-39.3% by a difference of 98,644 votes.
In a post to X, Lake shared her acceptance of the nomination and wrote, “I want to thank everyone who put in their blood, sweat, & tears, knocking on doors, volunteering, & working for our campaign I love every one of you I want to thank Arizonans for entrusting me to be their voice. And I want to thank my family, I couldn’t do any of this without them.”
As of this report it doesn’t appear that Mark Lamb has issued a concession or any statement regarding the race.
Lake will face Democrat Congressman Ruben Gallego who won the Democratic nomination unopposed, garnering 424,088 votes.
According to Cook Political, the race for the seat of outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) leans Democrat. The RealClearPolling average as of this report shows Gallego leading by 3.4 points.
In a post to X, and during her nomination acceptance, Lake seemed to adopt a conciliatory tone toward Lamb writing, “[Sheriff Lamb] was never an opponent. He’s my friend. I truly appreciate everything he’s given to Arizona, and I know he’s not done fighting for it. He’s not done protecting it. He ran a great campaign, and I look forward to working together with him in the future.”
In her comments she thanked him and referred to him as her friend saying, “He ran a great campaign…that never hit below the belt, which is so rare in politics.” She complimented him saying, ”That is a great man. That is a man of great character.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
