AZ Deserves Better!
Stop Voter Suppression Laws
AZ Deserves Better is filing at least two referendum initiatives; one on the new PEVL law and another on the ballot curing law. Both have already been signed by the Governor.
Attorneys are preparing petitions that will be circulated to block the Arizona Legislature’s spate of voter-suppression legislation and place the bills on the 2022 ballot where they can be rejected by the voters.
The process AZ Deserves Better is initiating is written into Arizona’s Constitution, which allows ordinary citizens to petition in order to place controversial laws on the ballot, where Arizona’s voters can vote up or down. In order to put these bills on the ballot, we have only 90 days from the adjournment of the Legislature to collect the signatures for each bill.
One of the first bills being challenged would do away with the extremely popular Permanent Early Voting List, or PEVL. Voters are very familiar with this list—Arizonans have signed up to vote by mail in droves. With the Legislature’s plan, they would be placed on a different unfamiliar list, and left wondering whether they would be removed under a complicated set of rules. With the GOP majority in the Legislature, it is all about spreading confusion and manufacturing uncertainty about democracy.
Another bill they are challenging eliminates the ballot “curing” period after an election. Say an elderly person has had some health issues and their signature has changed slightly. Under current law, they can verify their signature if questioned within five business days. The Legislature’s bill cuts off the curing period at 7 p.m. on election day. In addition to seniors, this will hit hard at minority voters.
Arizona went for Biden by only 11,000 votes in a state with a population of more than seven million. The opposition is throwing everything they can think of at the voters, hoping to chip away a little here, a little there. It’s the only way they believe they can continue in office against the will of the people.
Website: https://AZDeservesBetter.org
AZ Deserves Better is partnering with Outlaw Dark Money. Petitions for all initiatives will be at the Yavapai County Democratic Headquarters Re-Opening Celebration on Sat., June 26 from 1-4pm, 1555 Iron Springs Rd., Prescott. Please stop by, sign petitions and sign them out gather signatures.
If you want to help (and there is lots to do in the next 90 days), contact Diane McQueen, Ground Game Coordinator, Stop Dark Money, [email protected] 928-699-4308