Elections
Supreme Court dismisses all but one of Kari Lake’s election claims
The Arizona Supreme Court has rejected six of the seven claims that failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made in her bid to have the court overturn her election loss. The court remanded the remaining claim, regarding signature verification in Maricopa County, back to the trial court for reconsideration. Lake, the Donald Trump-endorsed standard-bearer for the […]
GOP bill would remove Arizona from ERIC, the database designed to combat voter fraud
Following in the footsteps of six conservative-led states, Senate Republicans want to pull Arizona’s membership from a multistate coalition that aids in cleaning voter rolls, following false claims that the coalition is part of a liberal conspiracy to rig elections. The Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, is a nonprofit formed in 2012 […]
‘Conspiracy theories’ still dominate Arizona Senate Elections Committee
Nearly a month after Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes released documents further disproving claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Senate Republicans continue to make such claims in the election committee. “They didn’t find criminal fraud, something they could actually attach a criminal charge to,” Republican state Senator Sonny Borrelli said, his voice raising in […]
Claiming a First Amendment right to anonymity, lawsuit aims to strike down ‘dark money’ prop
A lawsuit filed in federal court Friday aims to declare the anti-dark money ballot measure that Arizona voters approved last year unconstitutional on grounds that political donors have a First Amendment right to do so anonymously, among other claims. Voters widely approved Proposition 211 last year, with more than 70% of voters choosing to require […]
Far-right Republicans denounce push for ranked-choice voting in Arizona
With Arizona set to see a ballot initiative in 2024 to implement ranked-choice voting across the state, Republicans at the legislature sounded the alarm on Wednesday, saying the voting style is wrong for the Grand Canyon State. “Ranked-choice voting is a proven scam to further destroy integrity in our elections,” warned Rep. Austin Smith during […]
Hobbs, Fontes, Maricopa County clap back at Lake’s appeal to the AZ Supreme Court
Failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and her lawyers “continue to malign and erode the foundations upon which our great state stands” through their court case contesting the November 2022 election results, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told the Arizona Supreme Court this week in a filing asking the court to reject Lake’s legal challenge […]
A bill to enable do-it-yourself election audits sparks rare bipartisan interest in Arizona
Behind closed doors this month, in a caucus room that typically holds members from just one party, in a state defined by its political divisiveness, a rare bipartisan parley unfolded. State Sen. Ken Bennett paced around the room explaining his idea for a Do-It-Yourself election audit. He wanted to create a path making it possible […]
House Elections Committee: Don’t say ‘conspiracy theory’
The leader of the Arizona House of Representatives House Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee doesn’t want speakers in front of the committee to utter the words “conspiracy theory.” This comes just two weeks after a hearing in which that same House committee met jointly with its Senate counterpart and allowed a Gilbert insurance agent to […]
Mayes is suing Cochise County to stop it from giving the recorder full authority over elections
Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed a lawsuit against Cochise County, the members of its board of supervisors and its county recorder over a plan approved last month that gives the recorder full authority over all election matters. Mayes’ office and the Cochise county attorney had both warned the board that the move was legally […]
Mark Finchem sanctioned in ‘groundless’ lawsuit to overturn the 2022 election
A trial court judge has said Republican secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem will be forced to pay attorney’s fees in what the judge called a “groundless” lawsuit that aimed to overturn his election loss. Finchem challenged his loss to Adrian Fontes, who won by about five percentage points — more than 120,000 votes. Finchem […]
In Selma, President Joe Biden vows to continue work on voting rights
President Joe Biden Sunday praised the courage of civil rights activists and condemned efforts to restrict voting and attack the election process in a speech commemorating the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma. In his 20-minute address delivered at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where a law enforcement posse attacked civil rights […]
Kris Mayes is investigating Trump’s ‘fake electors,’ focusing on threats to election workers
While her predecessor used a dedicated election crimes division to investigate hundreds of bogus election fraud claims, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says she will redirect the unit’s focus to prosecute election-related threats and protect voting rights. “We are almost at a crisis situation in our state, in the sense that we now have a […]