Request to Speak Actions: Safeguard our rights as Arizonans

Apparently some Arizona legislators think that they are the only ones entitled to vote since they keep proposing bills to limit our ability to vote or exercise our constitutional right to enact citizens initiatives or even protest their actions. Please, speak up on RTS to protect our rights in our democracy.

You can weigh in on the following bills being heard in committee this week before they go to a vote.

If you had an account with RTS previously, it is still active. If you do not have an account, you can set one up through Civic Engagement Beyond Voting.  (Someone will have to help you activate it as it requires going to the Capitol.)  



Monday, March 15th

Senate Committee on Government at 2:00 PM

HB2569 elections; private funding; prohibition (Hoffman: Barton, Biasiucci, et al) prohibits the state or other public bodies from utilizing any private dollars to help conduct or administer elections. This would severely hamstring the state and counties as they receive private grants and in-kind support to fund election work as the legislature does not adequately fund it. OPPOSE.

HCR2023 elections; state authority; infringement; opposition (Hoffman: Barton, Biasiucci, et al) says the AZ Legislature opposes the federal government interfering with the legislature's authority over elections and urges Congress to oppose HR1, a bill that would limit voter suppression and provide for automatic voter registration for federal elections, prohibit improper voter list purges, including based on not voting in a recent election, and prohibit requiring additional identification (beyond a signature) when voting by mail. OPPOSE.

 
Wednesday, March 17th

House Committee on Ways and Means at 9:00 AM

SCR1024 initiatives; tax increases; vote requirement (Petersen) refers to the voters a measure to require a two-thirds vote for certain initiatives and referenda that include tax increases. This is a reaction to Prop. 208. OPPOSE.

House Committee on Government & Elections at 9:00 AM

SB1003 early voting; signature required; notice (Ugenti-Rita) limits curing an early ballot with a missing signature to 7:00 PM on Election Day. Currently, they can take several days to contact voters to let them know they forgot to sign and allow them an opportunity to sign. This is unnecessarily restrictive. OPPOSE.
SB1010 (now: recounts; requests; procedures; audits) (Mesnard) increases the minimum number of precincts in a post-election hand counts and allows individuals to file an action and bond in Superior Court for a recount of any election or portion of an election that is not subject to an automatic recount. So, people with money can challenge any election and demand a recount? OPPOSE.
SB1409 zoning ordinances; property rights; costs (Petersen) requires cities to consider impacts on the costs of housing before adopting any zoning ordinance or zoning ordinance text amendment. While not as bad as it was, it is still intended to limit protective actions by the cities. OPPOSE.
SB1497 ballot measures; proposition 105; disclosure (Ugenti-Rita) requires the official ballot and the publicity pamphlet to include a Proposition 105 notice. This notice will appear right above both the first statutory measure and also right above the first referendum. The notice states, "NOTICE: PURSUANT TO PROPOSITION 105 (1998), THESE MEASURES CANNOT BE CHANGED IN THE FUTURE IF APPROVED ON THE BALLOT EXCEPT BY A THREE-FOURTHS VOTE OF THE MEMBERS OF EACH HOUSE OF THE LEGISLATURE AND IF THE CHANGE FURTHERS THE PURPOSE OF THE ORIGINAL BALLOT MEASURE, OR BY REFERRING THE CHANGE TO THE BALLOT." The Legislature should absolutely not put this on the actual ballot. The ballot is no place for messaging, analysis, etc. That belongs in campaign literature and in some cases may be appropriate for the publicity pamphlet. We do not put any other notices on the actual ballot, including fiscal analysis, why include this? OPPOSE.
SB1531 petition signatures; description; invalidity (Mesnard: Leach) voids the signature of any initiative or referendum petition signer that signs the petition without either hearing or reading the initiative or referendum description printed on the petition. This is another ridiculous requirement.
What if you actually had read the measure? Why should you have to read or hear the description? It also says the circulator has to cross out a signature if they think the person did not read or listen to the description. OPPOSE.

Thursday, March 18th

Senate Committee on Judiciary at 9:00 AM

HB2309 violent; disorderly assembly; public order (Roberts: Barton, Biasiucci, et al) defines a violent and disorderly assembly as when a gathering of seven or more people, with the intent of engaging in a riot, causes damage to property or injures another person; makes participating in a disorderly assembly a class 6 felony; and targets protesters by increasing the penalties of lower level offenses to a felony if part of a gathering. This is clearly targeting the movement for Black Lives and people of color. OPPOSE.

Request to Speak Action: Stop AZ legislatures from making voting harder

Some state lawmakers are trying to make voting harder and elections costlier by proposing the following bills:

• SB1010 would allow anyone to order a recount of an election if they pay for it, thus delaying election results even when a recount doesn't make sense.
• SB1069 would redefine the word “permanent” by dropping voters from the Permanent Early Voting List if they miss voting their early ballots in two back-to-back elections.
• HB2039 would more than double the percentage of ballots that must be counted by hand, making elections more costly and time-consuming for no good reason.
• HB2054 would require the secretary of state to purge deceased voters, increasing the likelihood that eligible voters will be removed by mistake.
• All these bills will be heard in committee this week, so you can use RTS. Due to the stacked nature of committees, they will probably to proceed to the next step, so look ahead — contact your representatives for House bills and your senator for Senate bills to OPPOSE these bad pieces of legislation!

Please, weigh on on Request to Speak:

Sign on: https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon

Sign up for a Request to Speak account here: https://www.cebv.us/rts.html

Scheduled for Thursday in the Senate Government Committee
(Weigh in on request to speak before Thursday or while it is still in committee.)

SB1010, sponsored by JD Mesnard (R-17), would allow anyone to request a recount of an election, through tabulation machines or by hand, and regardless of the margin of victory, as long as they post a bond to cover the cost. The proposal, which is being touted as a way to bolster confidence in elections, comes amid baseless allegations and conspiracy theories among Trump supporters of fraud in the 2020 election. County recorders on both sides of the aisle caution that lawmakers should keep in mind the time and personnel it would take to conduct such recounts. Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Thursday. OPPOSE.

SB1069, sponsored by Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-23), would strip voters from the Permanent Early Voting List if they fail to vote their early ballots in two back-to-back primary and general elections. This is at least the second year the bill has been introduced; it was on track to pass last year before the COVID shutdown. Numerous officials opposed the bill then, including the Secretary of State, Maricopa County Recorder and Arizona Association of Counties. No one testified in favor of the bill or even came forward with a problem the bill would have fixed. A solution in search of a problem. Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Thursday. OPPOSE.

Scheduled for Wednesday in the House Government & Elections Committee
(Weigh in on Request to Speak by Wednesday's meeting or while it is being heard.)

HB2054, sponsored by Steve Kaiser (R-15), requires, rather than permits, the secretary of state to compare the records of deaths with the statewide voter registration database and purge deceased voters. Eligible voters often end up being removed by mistake, and federal law strictly governs how close to an election these purges can take place. Garrett Archer said he used to do this monthly when he worked for the Secretary of State's office. This solution in search of a problem should at least be paired with same-day voter registration so voters can correct any error. Scheduled for House Government & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.

HCR2001, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-23), would ask voters to limit initiatives in Arizona to a single subject or be invalidated. In 2017, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce sued to knock the minimum wage increase initiative off the ballot, arguing that wage and sick leave provisions violated the single-subject rule. The Arizona Supreme Court rejected that argument, saying voters could do as they liked. If passed, this bill would provide a way around that. Instituting a single subject rule would make it all but impossible to place comprehensive citizen initiatives on the ballot. Scheduled for House Government & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.