Supporting Safe and Properly Administered Elections in Arizona (Challenges to Arizona's Election Procedures Manual)

At a Glance

Three lawsuits have been brought challenging Arizona’s 2023 Election Procedures Manual, which is a detailed guidance document outlining rules for election administration. These lawsuits make a variety of claims, including attempting to prevent hard-won, pro-voter court victories from going into effect. Campaign Legal Center is filing friend-of-the-court (amicus) briefs in two of the lawsuits in support of Arizona’s Secretary of State. 

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Active
Updated
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Voting and Elections
About This Case/Action

Three lawsuits have been filed against Arizona’s 2023 Election Procedures Manual. The lawsuits -- brought by Arizona Republican Legislators, the Republican National Committee and the Arizona Republican Party, and Arizona Free Enterprise Club, respectively -- make a variety of claims, many of which try to thwart court decisions that protect Arizona voters.

The Arizona Election Procedures Manual (EPM) is a detailed guidance document that outlines the rules for election administration. The EPM spells out everything from voter registration, to how to ensure overseas military voters’ ballots are counted, to actually running a polling site on Election Day. It’s an important document for both election administrators and voters to navigate and understand Arizona’s election laws.  

CLC successfully won a lawsuit against Arizona in February 2024 striking down provisions of two new Arizona laws that severely restricted the ability of Arizonans — particularly Latino and Native Arizonans — from exercising their freedom to vote. The EPM included guidance based on this suit to ensure Arizona’s Elections were run in a nondiscriminatory way. Two of these EPM lawsuits attack CLC’s voting rights win by challenging these parts of the EPM. The third tries to circumvent federal protections against voter intimidation.  

What’s at Stake

CLC is filing friend-of-the-court briefs in two of the lawsuits in support of Arizona's Secretary of State.  

In the first friend-of-the-court brief, on behalf of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Arizona Students’ Association (ASA), the San Carlos Apache Tribe (Tribe), and Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.,  CLC is highlighting for the court: (1) the importance of the EPM in ensuring uniform and orderly elections and (2) the necessity for the EPM to explain how court rulings affect Arizona Election statutes.  

In the second friend-of-the-court brief, CLC, along with Protect Democracy and the League of Women Voters of Arizona, are explaining that the First Amendment does not give people a right to intimidate voters. In fact, laws prohibiting voter intimidation protect the First Amendment rights of Arizona voters by making sure every citizen’s voice is heard on Election Day. 

Associated Cases & Actions

Every Vote Counts: Combating Election Sabotage and Safeguarding Our Democracy

Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause Florida and partners urge Governor DeSantis to veto new Florida ethics bill

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WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause Florida, and other partner groups and allies — nine total — submitted a letter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, urging him to veto House Bill 1597/Senate Bill 7014 (or the “Ethics Bill”) due to additional barriers it puts in place for members of the public calling for accountability and transparency from state officials engaged in potential wrongdoing.

The Ethics Bill passed by Florida’s state legislature on March 7 includes an amendment that would only allow ethics complaints to be filed by those with direct knowledge of potential wrongdoing. This is a major shift from past requirements, which allowed anyone to file complaints before the Florida Commission on Ethics — so long as the information they provided was truthful and factual to the best of complainants’ knowledge. 

“Floridians deserve to have a hand in their democracy, and they deserve to fight for their right to know that their elected officials are putting the public good over personal gain,” said Kedric Payne, Vice President, General Counsel, and Senior Director of Ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “Ethics enforcement in the state of Florida has traditionally relied on the public being able to come forward and file complaints on potential cases of misconduct by officials. The Florida Ethics Commission is already limited because it cannot start an investigation itself without a complaint. Allowing only people with direct knowledge to file against potential wrongdoers is a major setback to transparency and accountability. Governor DeSantis should do right by his constituents and veto this bill.”
 
The coalition letter also notes that the standards for filing complaints under the new Ethics Bill are more stringent than basic legal principles that have been traditionally applied statewide, like for civil proceedings. Even if major news articles highlighted unethical behavior by Florida government officials, almost no member of the public would be allowed to call for an investigation by the Commission.
 
State ethics commissions are essential for maintaining an accountable and transparent democracy. Governor DeSantis should veto the new Ethics Bill so that the public can continue to assist the Florida Commission on Ethics with enforcement of the law, which is critical for building and maintaining public trust of government officials tasked with prioritizing the public interest. 

Read the full letter here.
 

Issues
Ethics
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