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A judge dismissed the Republican National Committee’s lawsuit against Arizona’s new voting regulations, which claimed they would permit election fraud.
The February lawsuit is one of several by Republicans challenging the state’s recently adopted Elections Procedures Manual. Currently headed by Democrat Adrian Fontes, the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office produces that document every election cycle as a manual for county officials across the state.
Republicans suing said the new guidelines would erode current election integrity regulations and weaken protections against voting by non-citizens. “Artificially short period for public comment” was another charge Fontes was accused of.
Judge Frank Moskowitz of Maricopa County Superior Court declared that the new manual “does not contradict or directly conflict” with state law now in effect. Noting the Secretary of State’s Office received “a substantial amount of public comment,” he also refuted accusations that Fontes improperly restricted public input on the new voting rules.
“There is a primary election coming up in July and the general election in November. Yet, plaintiffs ask this court to order that those elections be governed by the 2019 EPM, which… also contains several of the same provisions complained about below and does not address subsequent changes in state and federal election laws,” Moskowitz wrote in his order.
JP Martin, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office, stated that the ruling confirms the new guidebook “meets Arizona’s statutory requirements.”
“We used this manual to run the presidential preference election in March effectively and will continue using the EPM to ensure fair elections in the upcoming primary and general elections,” Martin said.
The once-obscure elections manual for the state has become a political hotbed as the 2024 presidential election approaches.
Conservative-filed lawsuits allege everything from lax voter registration requirements to First Amendment infractions.
Republicans have presented the legal challenges as part of many initiatives to maintain Arizona’s election integrity. Democrats have denounced the lawsuits as the most recent attack from people associated with former President Donald Trump.
The Republican leaders of the Arizona Legislature claim Fontes overreached himself and created policy out of the manual rather than interpreting it. They target, in particular, a clause that states that statewide vote certification must go forward as planned and cannot include the votes of any county that fails to return its canvass in the allotted time.
GOP legislators contend that the decision to ignore a county’s votes rests with the courts. The controversy arose when two Republican supervisors in Cochise County declined to certify the election results for 2022.
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has filed another lawsuit asserting that some of the restrictions on manual ballot drop box monitors are unconstitutional. It follows the 2022 monitoring of ballot drop boxes in Maricopa and Yavapai counties by several groups and individuals, some of whom were armed and wearing masks.
There has also been legal jousting over previous voting rules. At the time, Katie Hobbs, the Democratic Secretary of State, wrote a manual, which the Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich refused to approve.
Hobbs approved of some of Brnovich’s modifications but not all. Brnovich lost his fight to have Hobbs accept all of his changes when the two went to court.
This comes as Republican voter registrations in Arizona have been rapidly climbing thanks to efforts by the state GOP, with the gap with Democrat registrations widening over the past few years.
Breitbart News reported that “Republicans led Democrats in voter registration by about 130,000,” but
“in November 2022, that difference jumped to a gap of 166,000 — an increase of 36,000 individuals.”
“That gap is even greater in 2024, as Republicans have a 5.77 percent advantage over Democrats, boasting 236,000 more registered voters. That reflects a growth of 106,000 since 2020,” the outlet noted further. “Republicans also lead registered independents by almost 40,000 registered voters.”
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, noted: “In just four years, the registration advantage has nearly DOUBLED with most of the gains in the last two years.”
ARIZONA
"New data shows that Republicans now have a growing voter registration advantage in AZ. The latest figures show that Republicans are once again the largest voting bloc in Arizona, surpassing Independents by nearly 40,000!"
The Data Shows a Widening Gap Between…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 26, 2024
He noted further on the X platform: “Everyday @TPAction_ is registering voters, making contact with low propensity patriots, and preparing to chase the vote in November. Get to work. We can win.”
