On July 1 Members of a broad coalition of concerned citizens and organizations filed a referendum with the Arizona Secretary of State to overturn the omnibus measure known as House Bill 2305, which includes several measures that will make it harder for thousands of Arizonans to vote in upcoming elections. The Protect Your Right to Vote Committee – which includes more than twenty non-profit civic e
ngagement organizations, Latino voter engagement groups and labor organizations, as well as Libertarians, Green Party members and Democrats – must collect 86,405 valid signatures by September 12, 2013. HB2305 was amended with several disparate provisions that were struggling to find support on their own, and then passed by the Arizona State Legislature in the final hours of the 2013 legislative session on a near party line vote. Several community organizations had strongly opposed this bill because it will disproportionately affect minority, elderly, disabled and economically disadvantaged voters, but their concerns were ignored. House Bill 2305 does the following:
Requires all candidates for statewide, Congressional and legislative office to collect the same number of signatures regardless of party registration, essentially keeping third party candidates off the ballot. The required number of signatures for statewide races grew for all parties (by 4000 percent for Libertarians), except for Republicans whose requirements shrunk. For most legislative districts Republicans will see their requirements shrink. In every district, third-party candidates will see dramatically increased barriers to getting on the ballot. Establishes a process to remove voters from the permanent early voter list (PEVL) if they don’t vote an early ballot in two consecutive federal elections. This will impact thousands of elderly, disabled, Latino and Native American voters. It will put a damper on a growing Latino electorate that has signed up on the PEVL at a record pace. Criminalizes volunteers with campaigns and civic engagement organizations who assist in delivering a voter’s early ballot to the polls. Combined with the PEVL purge, this provision will make it much more difficult for organizations to canvas low-efficacy voters and encourage them to take part in elections. Places unnecessary barriers on initiative and recall drives by requiring strict compliance with election procedures, rather than the current court-mandated standard of substantial compliance. Arizona is a proud initiative state that enshrined the power for citizens to override their legislature in the state constitution over 100 years ago. This provision takes that power away from Arizona citizens.
* Paid for by Protect Your Right to Vote Committee (Opposing R-03-2014) with major funding by National Education Association, United Food and Commercial Workers, Arizona Education Association - Education Improvement Fund, and American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees
- See more at: http://protectyourvoteaz.org/node/2 .5z9k97B7.dpuf
