by Matthew Holloway | Jul 12, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
With voter confidence at an all-time low, state and county elections officials have their work cut out for them to run the 2024 polls effectively and restore the faith. However in Pinal County, with just weeks left before the Arizona primary, a small mistake could have large repercussions and does not build voter confidence.
As reported by SanTanValley.com, early ballots sent out July 3 for the 2024 primary election taking place July 30 were mailed, missing a “critical update regarding the return instructions.” The outlet reported that the county, in an effort to alleviate confusion between neighboring Maricopa County’s ballots and its own, switched from using green ballot return envelopes to “buff-colored” envelopes… without altering the instructions to the voter. So the written instructions that accompanied the ballot instruct the voter to use an envelope they weren’t sent.
In a statement reported by The Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent, the county said, “Unfortunately, the directions did not update the change from green to buff. Postcards with updated instructions will be mailed to all voters who received an early ballot. A notice will also be placed on the Pinal County Recorder’s website. The Republican and Democrat Party Chairs have been notified as has the Secretary of State’s office.”
The Pinal County Elections Department and the Pinal County Recorder’s Office provided the corrected instructions via a shared X account, which should have read:
- Step 3: Place the WHITE affidavit envelope into the BUFF return envelope addressed to the Recorder and seal.
The Arizona Republican Party posted an update regarding the error to X writing, “PINAL COUNTY VOTERS See Message from Recorder’s Office Error on Early Voting Ballot Printed Envelopes. The instructions call for a ‘GREEN’ return envelope but the color of the return envelope is ‘BUFF’ color. Follow these guidelines so that your ballot is processed timely: 1. Place your ballot into the WHITE affidavit envelope. 2. Sign and seal the WHITE affidavit envelope. 3. Place the WHITE affidavit envelope into the BUFF return envelope addressed to the Recorder and seal.”
Comments on the post revealed expressions of concern, dismay, and even dubiousness with one X user noting, “These mistakes don’t help anyone.” Another X user added, “Oh gee, who’d have guessed Pinal County messed up again?”
Paz Phillips an “AZ, Precinct & State Committeeman,” according to her bio asked, “Didn’t Pinal County just go through election problems and had to replace people?”
As noted by the commenters on X, and the AJ/GC independent, in the widely criticized 2022 primary election cycle, Pinal County suffered multiple printing errors on its early ballots and critical shortages of ballots at voting precincts on election day which contributed to massive erosion in voter confidence. As a result, the county elections department underwent a very public and costly revamp. However, this 2024 error is clearly not building voter confidence.
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 AZ Free Enterprise Club | Feb 19, 2024 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
If Adrian Fontes likes spending time in court, he’s going to have a fun time in 2024. In case you’ve lost count, Arizona’s Secretary of State has been sued three times over his Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) in just the last two weeks. That’s what happens when you produce one of the most radical EPMs in Arizona’s history.
At the end of January, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma filed a lawsuit against Fontes over a variety of provisions in his EPM that violate or conflict with current election laws in our state. But the party was just getting started.
Last week, the Arizona Republican Party, the Republican National Committee, and the Yavapai County GOP also sued Fontes for his blatant attempt to rewrite election law through his EPM. And on the same day, we filed our own lawsuit against Fontes over the promulgation of certain unlawful rules set forth in his EPM.
The reality is that, in his role as Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes is supposed to provide an EPM that gives impartial direction to county recorders to ensure uniform and correct implementation of election law. Instead, he prescribed certain rules without the power to do so and moved forward with an EPM that contains several “rules” that are unconstitutional.
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Corinne Murdock | Feb 13, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is facing another lawsuit over his Elections Procedures Manual (EPM), the state’s rulebook for administering federal and state elections updated biennially.
On Friday, the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), the Republican National Committee (RNC), and Yavapai County GOP sued Fontes over the 2023 EPM. Newly-elected AZGOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda stated in a press release that Fontes had far surpassed his limited rulemaking authority through the EPM.
“Fontes and his allies are not legislators — they have no right to insert their preferred far-left policies into the guidance for Arizona elections,” said Swoboda. “This is a blatant attempt to rewrite election law and hollow out basic safeguards that are designed to preserve election integrity in our state’s elections.”
State law limits Fontes’ rulemaking authority to supporting existing laws on early and regular voting, and the handling of ballots and other election materials. The GOP groups stated in their lawsuit that these limitations were necessarily “specific and exhaustive” because the EPM carries the force of law upon approval by the governor and attorney general: a violation of any EPM provision is a class two misdemeanor, which carries a maximum four-month jail sentence.
Nine provisions set forth in Fontes’ EPM conflict with state election law, according to the GOP groups. These provisions concern registered voters who are declared noncitizens or have not provided Documentary Proof Of Citizenship (DPOC), signature verification, challenges to early ballots, out-of-state mailed ballots, and out-of-precinct voters.
One contested EPM provision requires county recorders to not cancel the voter registrations of individuals who declared themselves noncitizens on juror questionnaires if they have previously provided DPOC or have been registered to vote since 2004. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-165(A)(10) requires county recorders to cancel those types of voter registrations, should the individual in question not respond to a mailed request for DPOC within 35 days.
A second contested EPM provision allows for those who don’t submit DPOC or whose DPOC can’t be verified to be registered as federal-only voters: individuals who may only cast votes for federal offices. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-127(1) prohibits those without DPOC from voting in presidential elections.
A third contested EPM provision allows first-time, federal-only voters to provide only an ID and not DPOC in order to vote by mail. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-127(2) prohibits anyone who hasn’t provided DPOC from voting by mail.
Fourth and fifth contested EPM provisions declare that county recorders aren’t required to check federal databases for citizenship review purposes. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. §§ 16-165 and 161-121.01 require county recorders to compare voter registrations to a specific and inclusive list of state and national databases.
A sixth contested EPM provision precludes public review of voter signatures on mail ballots, limiting review to documents pertaining to a candidate, initiative, referendum, recall, new party, or petition. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-168(F) allows public review of voter signatures for all election purposes.
A seventh contested EPM provision allows Active Early Voting List (AEVL) voters to make one-time requests for their ballots to be mailed to an address outside the state for certain elections. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-544(B) prohibits AEVL voters from using a mailing address outside the state unless they are Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) voters.
An eighth contested EPM provision requires the denial of early ballot challenges received prior to the “return” of an early ballot or after the opening of an early ballot affidavit envelope. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-552(D) allows for challenges to be placed before early ballots are placed in the ballot box specifically.
A ninth contested EPM provision allows out-of-precinct voters to cast provisional ballots. The GOP groups contend that A.R.S. § 16-122 prohibits out-of-precinct voters from voting at all.
Their lawsuit also accuses Fontes of ignoring statutory requirements for public and stakeholder review of the EPM, namely by withholding disclosure of “critical portions” of the rulebook until its final release last December.
GOP leadership also objected to Fontes only granting 15 days for initial public comment on the draft EPM from last July to mid-August and then allowed for no public comment period prior to the publishing of the final EPM in December. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires agencies — defined as boards, commissions, departments, officers, or other administrative units — to allow for at least 30 days of public comment. The GOP groups argue that the secretary of state’s office falls under APA’s definition of agency.
Both the AZGOP and RNC raised objections to the brevity of public comment for the draft EPM around the time of its release, which Fontes ignored.
At the end of last month, Arizona’s GOP legislative leadership sued Fontes over the EPM. Their lawsuit contested some of the same provisions as this latest lawsuit from the GOP groups, but also contested other provisions, such as an AEVL provision delaying voter roll cleanup until 2027 and a canvassing provision circumventing court-based relief for when boards of supervisors fail to certify an election.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jan 25, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The chairman of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), Jeff DeWit, resigned on Wednesday after a leaked recording revealed his attempt to bribe Senate candidate Kari Lake to postpone her 2024 campaign.
In the leaked audio originally given to The Daily Mail exclusively, DeWit said that the unnamed, “very powerful people […] back East” wanted Lake to sit out of the 2024 race. Lake posited that those people were corrupt; DeWit conceded to that observation.
“Is there a number at which… not be bought. You can take a pause for a couple of years, and then go right back to it,” said DeWit.
Lake said that she was offended that people were “trying to buy [her] out,” to which DeWit replied that she should be “honored.” DeWit asked Lake not to release their conversation because it would hinder the ability of the AZGOP to “get things done” in the future.
“This is not about money, this is about our country,” said Lake. “These people are un-American, and I think they’re unethical, and I would be absolutely immoral if I did that.”
DeWit said that even he was hoping for a different candidate, seeing as he couldn’t think of any other candidates that won a race immediately after losing.
“I want a fresh face right now for the reason that I’ve never seen anyone, I can’t think of a person in a federal race who’ve lost, ran again, and then won,” said DeWit. “I can give you an incredible opportunity to have a bigger voice to fight for stuff than you currently do.”
In his parting remarks to Lake, DeWit insisted again that she should be honored by the buyout, because the unnamed power players “back East” weren’t instead focusing on beating her.
DeWit announced his resignation in a press release. The former chairman characterized the audio as “selectively edited,” “deceptive,” and an “ethical breach” that raised “serious legal and moral concerns,” revealing that the recorded conversation took place in Lake’s living room while she was in DeWit’s employment.
“This act of recording was not just a betrayal of trust but also a violation of the fiduciary responsibilities of an employee,” said DeWit. “Contrary to accusations of bribery, my discussions were transparent and intended to offer perspective, not coercion.”
DeWit expressed the belief that Lake set him up in order to gain total control over the AZGOP.
“The release of our conversation by Lake confirms a disturbing tendency to exploit private interactions for personal gain and increases concern about her habit of secretly recording personal and private conversations,” said DeWit. “This is obviously a concern given how much interaction she has with high profile people including President Trump.”
According to DeWit, he was intent on fighting for his position — which he emphasized was unpaid and required many volunteer hours on his part — but decided to step down after Lake allegedly blackmailed him with “a new, more damaging recording.” DeWit noted that he wasn’t sure what this recording might contain, explaining that he and Lake shared numerous open conversations in the past.
“I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks, allowing me to return to the business sector — a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics,” said DeWit.
DeWit emphasized that the controversy over the recording was “a distraction” to the mission of electing Republicans.
DeWit’s resignation came just days before the AZGOP planned to play host to former President Donald Trump at its Freedom Fest.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 10, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) urged Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate Governor-elect Katie Hobbs’ role in censorship of online speech.
The AZGOP asked Brnovich to determine whether Hobbs violated federal or state laws by using state resources in coordination with the Biden administration to remove posts on her office’s behalf. They further requested that Brnovich obtain the entire trove of communications between the secretary of state’s office and Twitter.
As the Arizona Daily Independent reported, court filings in the case Missouri v. Biden revealed that the secretary of state’s office used a middle man of sorts to censor online speech: the Center for Internet Security (CIS).
CIS is led by a former Obama administration official, and has received hundreds of millions in federal grants and contracts over the past two decades.
Several days after discovery of Hobbs’ arrangement to moderate online speech, Hobbs called on Arizonans during the statewide canvass certifying the election to suppress election misinformation and disinformation.
As of press time, Brnovich hasn’t issued a public statement on social media or by press release to address the AZGOP’s request. AZ Free News requested comment; the attorney general’s office didn’t respond by press time.
While Hobbs hasn’t addressed the controversy over her office’s moderation of online speech, her incoming chief of staff and former assistant secretary of state, Allie Bones, issued a statement to multiple mainstream media outlets defending the arrangement.
Bones told reporters that it was the job of governments, including the secretary of state’s office, to purge the public square of perceived misinformation and disinformation. Bones added that the CIS arrangement was a normal one between governments and social media companies. The chief of staff insisted that their actions weren’t silencing dissent.
“One of the ways we [make sure that voters are informed] is by working to counter disinformation online that can confuse voters,” stated Bones. “This is yet another example of conspiracy theorists trying to create chaos and confusion by casting doubt on our election system. It’s unfair to Arizona voters and it’s harmful to our democracy.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
