WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, the RNC and Arizona GOP, backed by RITE PAC, asked an Arizona court to halt any efforts to implement the states new Election Procedures Manual, which Secretary of State Adrian Fontes unlawfully rewrote without required public oversight and in violation of several Arizona laws. According to Derek Lyons at RITE PAC, which is working with the state party on the lawsuit, Fontes has, among other things, removed critical protections that ensure non-citizens, non-residents, and other ineligible individuals are not able to undermine the integrity of Arizona’s elections.
“Secretary Fontes has demonstrated his complete lack of respect for Arizona’s election laws. As an election official, his foremost and only concern should be to faithfully implement the election laws enacted by Arizona’s legislature. His insistence on manipulating and violating those laws in furtherance of his own partisan agenda is exactly why so many voters believe fraud is undermining our elections. We have time to fix the problems, but only if a court puts a stop to this lawlessness. All of this should have been unnecessary and would have been had Fontes chosen to follow the law instead of indulging his political desires.”
-Derek Lyons, President of RITE PAC
The lawsuit alleges that Fontes did not follow the necessary legal procedures for creating the Elections Procedures Manual. He gave the public only 15 days to review and comment on the draft, made unauthorized changes to the manual that the public never had an opportunity to scrutinize, and adopted rules that violate several Arizona statutes. RITE PAC’s lawsuit asks the court to enjoin all or parts of the EPM, which include:
- Failing to comply with Arizona state law governing rulemaking, which requires a proper notice-and-comment period;
- Exempting registered voters who identify themselves as noncitizens on juror questionnaires from documenting their citizenship before permitting them to remain registered to vote;
- Contradicting Arizona law by allowing voters who have not provided proof of citizenship to vote in Arizona’s presidential primary;
- Limiting the public’s statutory right to review the authenticity of registration signatures,
- Ignoring the statutory provisions prohibiting certain voters from using out-of-state mailing addresses to receive ballots;
- Changing the time frame set by law for when an early ballot’s validity can be challenged; and
- Eliminating statutory requirements to vote within assigned precincts.
Review the case filed with the Maricopa County Superior Court at RITEUSA.org.
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