Arizonans for Fair Elections introduced a new ballot initiative for 2020 aimed to combat the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups and pass voting reforms. At the Arizona capitol on Wednesday, Arizonans for Fair Elections filed its measure with the Secretary of State and the legislative council.
The organization laid out its ballot measure that includes banning politicians from receiving gifts from lobbyists and special interest groups. It also increases accessibility for voting, which includes more hours, locations, and automatic voter registration.
“People are fed up with big money and special interests running the show, so we are trying to be ambitious,” said Joel Edman, spokesperson for Arizonans for Fair Elections.
When developing the legislation, the organization looked at previous efforts of other states, such as Michigan, said Doris Marie Provine, professor emeritus at Arizona State University, and president of the Arizona Advocacy Network.
“We did a lot of work with focus groups and surveying to see which pieces would work best to persuade voters to support this (initiative)… it’s been going on since last spring,” Provine said.
The measure and the organization aim to remove several barriers to voting to ensure people who are eligible to vote can cast their ballot with little to no problems.
Various speakers spoke to the need for addressing and fixing many areas of the voting systems that need improvement.
Arizona State University student and advocate Aryhanna Meza spoke at the event and highlighted the needs of hardworking families who have difficulty voting because of time constraints and the inconvenience that comes with registering and voting.
“My family and many Arizona families who work minimum wage jobs don’t have the time to register to vote, and this task is seen as such a tedious thing when they are working two to three jobs for extra income, feeding their families, or taking their kids to school, it’s just not a priority,” Meza said.
Automatic voter registration will help address these problems and make the voting process more inclusive, which will allow all eligible voters to be heard, Meza said.
Rossetta Walker, Maricopa county deputy registrar and member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe, also spoke at the event and said rural Native Americans were especially impacted by these gaps in the voting system.
“On the Navajo nation, there are 110 chapter houses but only a handful of polling places,” Walker said.
The measure will require much support because of the scope of the reform. Fundraising, volunteers, and awareness are just some of the things needed to lift this initiative.
“We are definitely going to need a lot of resources,” Edman said. “We are hoping to tap into as many grassroots supporters across the state as we can.”
One of the biggest challenges facing the organization is the number of signatures required to get the initiative on the ballot.
“Our biggest obstacle is that it’s a large number of signatures that we got to collect, so we are going to need help from people all over the state to get that number,” Edman said.
Another potential problem that could arise is the initiative becoming perceived as a partisan effort. Joel said the initiative’s goals are popular among the voting population in Arizona.
“The kind of reforms we are pursuing are very popular across voters of all political stripes, so I certainly hope this doesn’t become any kind of partisan fight,” said Joel.
The measure needs 237,645 signatures by July 2 to qualify for the 2020 elections.
Arizona Rep. Reginald Bolding (D-Ariz.) said he’s confident that the measure will make it on the ballot.
“This ballot initiative will absolutely make it on the ballot,” Bolding said. “The Arizonans for Fair Elections ballot initiative is something that is long overdue here in the state of Arizona, people died for their right to vote, and the fact that you have a small minority of folks trying to suppress the vote is unacceptable.”
Contact the reporter at lzambra2@asu.edu.
