Showing posts with label Hobbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hobbs. Show all posts

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Gov. Hobbs keeps a campaign promise, Rabid anti-choicers do the expected and wig out.

Well, "expected" if you've ever observed anti-choicers,  and I have.























From KTAR, written by Danny Shapiro -

Arizona Gov. Hobbs signs executive order stripping county attorneys from prosecuting abortions

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday announced she signed an executive order that strips the state’s 15 county attorneys from prosecuting abortion cases.

The order, dated Thursday, gives the prosecutorial authority on the issue solely to the attorney general, who is currently Democrat General Kris Mayes.

[snip]

“I made a promise to Arizonans that I would do everything in my power to protect reproductive freedom and this executive order reflects that promise,” Hobbs said in a statement.

“I will not allow extreme and out of touch politicians to get in the way of the fundamental right Arizonans have to make decisions about their own bodies and futures.”

Most of the reaction from anti-choicers was characterized by the stamping of feet while whining "but she can't do that!"

From Twitter -







To anti-choicers, facts are bothersome things, to be ignored when they don't comport with anti-choice ideology.


Also from Twitter -




















Herrod is the leader of Center for Arizona Policy and the leading anti-choicer in Arizona. And she's so influential with the R caucus of the legislature, she should be considered to be a de facto, but unelected, member of the the lege.


While their opposition to Hobbs' executive order is vehement, it isn't surprising.  On the other hand, I do have a question about something that comes next, from Rep. Alexander Kolodin.


















Not this one, though the retweet of a call for impeachment over this is, well, *interesting.*

Nope, another one by Kolodin raises a question, for me anyway.













Even before he was a member of the state legislator, Kolodin was an attorney, and represented state Sen. Kern (not a senator then) in a lawsuit in Yuma County Superior Court over his involvement in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election that happened on January 6, 2021.  The lawsuit didn't end well for Kolodin and Kern.


I know that privileged communication exists between attorneys and their clients, but I have to ask:


Does Kolodin offering a legal opinion ("unconstitutional") and giving some advice to his client ("you all in the Senate better keep up") obviate that privilege (I really don't know)?



Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Does Kari Lake drive a car or a whaaaaambulance?

She loses in elections and in court...and then whines about both.

From Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, published by the Arizona Capitol Times -

Lake says she will appeal judge’s ruling confirming she lost election

Kari Lake said Tuesday she will appeal Monday’s ruling confirming the election of Katie Hobbs as governor, brushing aside the fact that the judge said her key evidence in seeking to overturn the result was legally irrelevant.

In a press conference outside her Phoenix headquarters, Lake said she has been denied the ability to put on a case showing she actually won the race. She said that is because of the rulings about state elections laws from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson all the way up through the Arizona Supreme Court about what she needed to prove.

All of them went against her.


Monday, May 22, 2023

State Sen. Sonny Borrelli declares his intent to be AZ's dictator

From K,JZZ written by Ben Giles -

Borrelli ordered AZ counties to stop using voting machines. Here's why he can't

Citing authority he does not actually have, a state senator has ordered all Arizona counties to conduct future federal elections without the use of electronic voting equipment.

In identical letters to all 15 counties, Republican Sen. Sonny Borrelli claims that the continued use of voting systems — “which are made with components from countries considered adversaries to the U.S.,” he wrote — has left Arizona, and the rest of the nation, “in an extremely vulnerable and dangerous position.”

Guess that Gov. Katie Hobbs has her first 2026 challenger.

Of course, Borrelli could be mounting a dark horse campaign to be Cheeto's VP selection.


Sunday, January 08, 2023

Arizona Legislature 2023: Guessing that Governor Hobbs will need multiple veto pens

On tap at the legislature: More helping corporations, more ignoring the will of the voters, and more efforts to undermine democracy...and trying to distract from those things with culture war fights.


The "helping corporations" part?  

Rep. Livingston has introduced HB2003, a proposal to reduce the corporate income tax rate by almost 50%..  This measure is already scheduled for consideration by two committees this week.


The 'ignoring the will of the voters" part?

Livingston has also introduced HB2014, a proposal to expand tax credits for school vouchers, and also expand vouchers themselves.  In 2018, the voters soundly rejected Proposition 305, a attempt by the legislature to expand vouchers.


The "undermine democracy" part?

Sen. Kern has introduced SCR1002, a proposed amendment to the state constitution to require that any changes to it would require the votes of 60% of voters in an election to pass.


The "culture war fights" part?

The ever-reliable Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Demonize) has introduced SB1026, while Kern (who seems obsessed) has introduced SB1028 and SB1030; all of which would redefine, regulate, or otherwise restrict drag shows.


Others of note:

Kern has introduced SB1031, seeking to bar the state or other political subdivisions from firing employees based on their vaccination status.

Kavanagh has been busy - he's introduced SB1024, which would criminalize homelessness; SB1022, which would criminalize begging, asking for donations, and/or selling goods from inside a traffic median; SB1023, which would criminalize picketing or demonstrating outside a private residence; and SB1021, requiring the state's AG to defend all laws passed by the legislature and signed by the governor unless each chamber's judiciary committee grants relief from that requirement by a 2/3 vote (not gonna happen).

The way this is worded it covers measures passed by previous iterations of the lege and signed by previous governors.  And Governors Ducey and Brewer signed a LOT of bad bills.


Governor Hobbs doesn't needed unsolicited advice from a rank amateur like me, but I'm going to offer some anyway (of course :) ).

Her default position on any measures proposed by a legislative R should be "Veto It!"

Not every such measure will be bad, but her first question when considering any measure her desk should be "does this help Arizona?"

For most of the output of this legislature, the answer will be No!"


Monday, January 02, 2023

Hobbs takes the reins as AZ governor. That works.

From AP via Yahoo! -

Democrat Katie Hobbs takes office as Arizona governor

Katie Hobbs took the oath of office Monday to become Arizona’s 24th governor and the first Democrat to hold the office since 2009.

Hobbs was sworn in during a private ceremony at the state Capitol as she formally took over from Republican Doug Ducey. A public inauguration for the governor and others taking statewide offices is scheduled for Thursday.


From KTAR












Saturday, December 24, 2022

AZ political predictions

 This is completely tongue-in-cheek (except for the parts that come true).  And mostly lege-oriented. :)


January -

Governor Katie Hobbs takes her oath of office with a speech filled with words and phrases like "cooperation" and "best interests of Arizona".



















The Rs in the AZ legislature, led by House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen, respond with only "wanna bet?"

In one of her first acts as governor, Hobbs calls the legislature into a special session to address the aggregate expenditure limit looming over public ed.

The measure fails on a party line vote as the Rs in the legislature are upset it doesn't give more money to vouchers.

Kari Lake sues to overturn the 2022 election results.  She is represented by a reasonably reputable attorney.

Her lawsuit fails.

Kelli Ward is deposed as chair of the AZGOP.  Guess losing an election or two bothers R PCs more than being a party to treason.


February -

There's a riot in a bingo hall in Oro Valley when a caller refuses to award a Bingo designation to someone who doesn't have one.  Mark Finchem says he wasn't there, but photographic evidence says otherwise.

Abe Hamedeh sues again to overturn the 2022 results.

The lawsuit fails.


March - 

Sen. John Kavanagh runs a bill allowing police officers to kill anyone they want for any reason they want.....so long as they don't kill rich people or white trumpkins.

It passes the legislature on a party line vote.  

Governor Hobbs vetoes it.

Cheeto appears at a rally in Cochise County.  It's well attended.  He and his hangers-on inflate the figures anyway.

Kari Lake sues to overturn the 2022 election results.  She is represented by a reasonably astute attorney who waits until the retainer check clears before going forward.

Her lawsuit fails.


April -

Sen. Wendy Rogers runs a bill changing voting eligibility so that only retired Christian Dominionists living in counties with fewer than 500,000 people in them can vote.

It passes the legislature on a party line vote.  Governor Hobbs vetoes it.

With that, Hobbs sets the record for number of measures vetoed by a governor.

Incensed by the veto, Rogers runs a proposal to change the state constitution.  If passed by the voters, it would bar governors from vetoing measures supported by Republicans.

It passes the legislature on a party line vote.

Changing things up, Kari Lake sues to overturn the 2020 election results.  She is represented by a reasonably reputable attorney.

Her lawsuit fails.


May -

The lege has entered it's silly season, aka - hurry up and wait season, aka2 - there's no budget but the lege is still in session.  And their boredom, and contempt for democracy, shows.

Rep. Leo Biasucci runs a bill barring Attorneys General from indicting or charging Republicans.

It passes the legislature on a party line vote.  Governor Hobbs vetoes it

Sen. Sonny Borrelli runs a bill barring Arizona SOS' from certifying any election results that the majority in the lege doesn't like.

It passes the legislature on a party line vote.  Governor Hobbs vetoes it.

Abe Hamedeh sues again.

And fails again.


June -

The lege, in the persons of Toma and Petersen, announces that budget deal has been reached and that it solves the aggregate expenditure limit issue.

By taking all of the state's education funding and giving it to private and charter schools.

And then they adjourn the lege sine die and get out of town before Hobbs, or anyone else, can say anything.

Governor Hobbs addresses that by using her line item veto power and calling back the lege into a special session.

When certain legislators make noises about not returning to Phoenix, Hobbs makes noise about sending DPS officers to retrieve them.

Since being in Phoenix in the summer beats being in a jail cell, the recalcitrant legislators return.


July -

And the parade begins.

One of the downsides of Arizona becoming a battleground state will be incessant trips by famous (and not-so-famous) Republicans looking for the 2024 nomination for President (and if Joe Biden gives any indication that he's not running for re-election, it'll be Democrats, too).  2024 will start in 2023 here.


August -

The Biden Administration announces the release of a vaccine for cancer that's 99% effective, one that will be named after Anthony Fauci.

Rs and other anti-vaxxers denounce the vaccine as an unscientific plot by Big Brother to control their lives and proudly refuse to take it.

Cheeto tells them to drink Laetrile-laced Kool-Aid, and it will cure the cancer,.  He'll claim that it's more effective than hydroxychloroquine.

But first, they should send him some money

Cheeto's followers die in droves, but he gets wealthier.


September -

Kari Lake sues to overturn the 2022 election results.  She is represented by an attorney who obtained a law degree from a crane game in a convenience store.

Her lawsuit fails.


October -

Kelli Ward announces her candidacy for the U.S Senate seat that will be on AZ's ballot in 2024.

She wants the support of crazies and others of Cheeto's rubes to coalesce around her.


November -

Cheeto makes another appearance, this time in Mohave County. This one is sparsely attended.

The next day, he cries "Fraud!" and ends his candidacy.


December -

The Rs in the legislature, in preparation for an election year session in 2024, sharpen their pitchforks and pour kerosene on their stakes...errr..."prepare their book bans and anti-LBGTQ legislation".

Kari Lake sues to overturn the 2022 election results.  She is represented by an attorney who obtained a law degree from Trump University.

Her lawsuit fails.


Sunday, November 27, 2022

Know what the two election-denying counties in AZ have in common? Republican former legislators in significant elected offices.

Not that there are any insignificant ones...though Katie Hobbs might argue that some are more significant than others. :)


Two Arizona counties, Cochise and Mohave, have proclaimed that they won't certify their election results until the last minute, if even then.


The two counties are located in diametrically opposite parts of the state, with Cochise being in the southeast corner of the state while Mohave is in the northwest corner. 

From the University of Arizona -






















While the counties are in opposite parts of the state, they do share something in common....aside from being dusty and rural Republican strongholds.

In Cochise County, the elected Recorder is David Stevens, a former state representative.  He was in the lege from 2009 thru 2016.  He regularly earned failing grades from organizations like the Sierra Club and laudatory grades from organizations like the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Small Business Association when there.  He also regularly sponsored or cosponsored a litany of anti-voter and anti-choice bills.

In Mohave County, one member of the board of supervisors there is Ron Gould, a former state senator, one who makes Attila the Hun look like a bleeding heart liberal.


To be sure, the election-denying extremism in Arizona isn't limited to *former* legislators:

Outgoing state senator Kelly Townsend has issued a baseless subpoena to Maricopa County over the 2022 election.

Returning state senator Ken Bennett was the face of the "fraudit."

Newby state representative Alexander Kolodin is an attorney who has not only represented Anthony Kern in a January 6th-related lawsuit, he's repping Cochise County in this matter.


While I expect the two counties to certify their election results (else the votes wouldn't count and a number of races would flip and become Democratic wins), I also expect that there will be a lot of self-righteous pearl clutching and foot stamping before that happens.


Sunday, November 20, 2022

Lesson from Cheeto: An electoral loss isn't a loss, it's a chance to litigate

Kari Lake has absorbed that lesson at Cheeto's knee.


From The Hill, dated 11/17 -

Kari Lake declines to concede, says she’s assembling legal team

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) declined to concede governor race to Democrat Katie Hobbs Thursday, raising concerns about the election process.

The Associated Press and other outlets projected that Hobbs won the race on Monday. But Lake indicated she is assembling a legal team that is “collecting evidence and data” pertaining to the electoral process.

Not to worry; Lake may involve lawyers, but, like Cheeto, she'll never stop whining.

From the NY Times via The Seattle Times -

Kari Lake claims her voters were disenfranchised. Her voters tell a different story

 When he stepped inside a Phoenix polling place on the morning of Election Day on the way to work, Kevin Bembry was told that the tabulation machines were not functioning properly and he might want to vote somewhere else.

“I’ve never had that happen before,” Bembry, 57, a security officer, said in a

 

video later posted online.

[snip]

Lake has vowed to keep fighting the election after her race was called by

 

The Associated Press for her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs. Lake has claimed

 

her defeat was the result of the “disenfranchisement” of her supporters in

 

Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and where technical problems on

 

Election Day introduced delays, confusion and conspiracy theories. On Twitter,

 

Lake’s campaign has claimed that the election was compromised and said that

 

“the appropriate thing to do would be to let Maricopa County cast their votes again.”

But a crucial element has been missing so far in all of these accounts: clear claims

 

that any eligible voters in Maricopa County were actually denied the chance to vote.

The video the campaign circulated of Bembry, for instance, was an edited version

 

of a longer video posted on the site Rumble. In the full video, he states that,

 

despite the inconvenience, he cast his ballot at a nearby polling site.

 

“I was able to vote — no waiting, no misreads of the tabulation machines, nothing,” he says.

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -





Tuesday, November 15, 2022

It's Hobbs for the win!

A week after the election, the race for AZ Governor has been called...for Katie Hobbs!


From AP -

Hobbs wins Arizona governor’s race, flipping state for Dems

Democrat Katie Hobbs was elected Arizona governor on Monday, 

defeating an ally of Donald Trump who falsely claimed the 2020

 election was rigged and refused to say she would accept the results

 of her race this year.

Hobbs, who is Arizona’s secretary of state, rose to prominence

as a staunch defender of the legitimacy of the last election and 

warned that her Republican rival, former television news anchor 

Kari Lake, would be an agent of chaos. Hobbs’ victory adds 

further evidence that Trump 

is weighing down his allies in a crucial battleground state as the 

former president gears up for an announcement of a 2024 presidential run.

She will succeed Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who was prohibited 

by term limit laws from running again. She’s the first Democrat 

to be elected governor in Arizona since Janet Napolitano in 2006.


From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -




The interesting part of that second pic is that Maricopa County, long considered a "red" county, voted very purple this time.  The people that saw Hobbs in action as both a member of the AZ Legislature and as AZ Secretary of State, accepted her, while the same people who saw Kari Lake up close as a TV personality on a Fox affiliate, rejected her.

As could be expected, Hobbs said "thank you" and got to work, while Lake, well, whined.






Sunday, November 06, 2022

Lake campaign receives *suspicious" envelope early in the morning

From AZFamily -

Suspicious package delivered to Kari Lake’s Phoenix campaign office

A suspicious envelope was delivered to Kari Lake’s campaign office in Phoenix early Sunday morning.

Phoenix Fire Department’s hazardous materials crew responded to a report from the office that a suspicious envelope had arrived, Lake’s campaign confirmed. The crew and other local agencies started working together to investigate around 2 a.m. early Sunday morning. Phoenix police say there are no reports of injuries or illness.

[snip]

Secretary Katie Hobbs released the following statement when asked by Arizona’s Family.

“The reported incident at Kari Lake’s campaign office is incredibly concerning and I am thankful that she and her staff were not harmed. Political violence, threats, or intimidation have no place in our democracy. I strongly condemn this threatening behavior directed at Lake and her staff.”

Secretary Katie Hobbs


And readers thought I couldn't do it - nothing in the title speculated that this may be Lake's "Reichstag fire" moment, or pointed out that the envelope was delivered when the were few potential witnesses or that it came after Lake was heavily criticized for cracking a joke at the actual violence perpetrated upon Paul Pelosi, the husband of the speaker of the U.S. House.


Jeez, I'm so restrained that I amaze myself sometimes. :)


Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Kari Lake declares that MLK Jr. would be MAGA; the King family has a different opinion on the topic

 From The Recount -

[snip]

LAKE: “I'm a true believer that if MLK, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, if JFK were alive today, if our founding fathers were alive today, they would be America First Republicans. I really believe that.”

From The Daily Beast via Yahoo! -

MLK’s Daughter to Kari Lake: No, My Dad Wouldn’t Be a MAGA Republican

Kari Lake, a Republican who’s regularly spewed election-denying nonsense in her bid to be Arizona’s next governor, was eviscerated Wednesday after she claimed Martin Luther King Jr. would be a MAGA Republican if he was alive today.

A day after making the bizarre comment, Bernice King shot back that Lake was being dismissive of her father’s “seminal work and beliefs,” such as ending voter suppression and treating all people—including immigrants—with dignity.

Lake hates voting and elections, too - at least ones that don't go her preferred way.

The King family is on record as supporting voting rights and elections.

From Axios, dated 1/15/2022 -

King family leads Arizona rally to mobilize support for voting rights bills

Family members of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. honored his birthday Saturday with a rally in Arizona to mobilize support for voting rights legislation.

Driving the news: The rally comes days after Martin Luther King III admonished Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Thursday, saying history will remember her "unkindly" for voicing her opposition to abolishing the filibuster to pass major voting rights bills.

Yes, I've already voted for Katie Hobbs.

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Maybe the GQP can't multitask

It seems that they're not coordinated enough to both dance in joy over the anti-choice ruling to crow about it.

From AP via Yahoo! -

GOP quiet as Arizona Democrats condemn abortion ruling















Arizona Democrats vowed Saturday to fight for women's rights after a court reinstated a law first enacted during the Civil War that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances, looking to capitalize on an issue they hope will have a major impact on the midterm elections.

Republican candidates were silent a day after the ruling, which said the state can prosecute doctors and others who assist with an abortion unless it's necessary to save the mother's life. Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for governor, and Blake Masters, the Senate candidate, did not comment.

Don't worry - the GQP crowing will soon ensue.

David Gordon at Blog for Arizona has a summary of AZ Dem reaction to this abominable ruling by a Ducey-appointed judge here.


Sunday, September 18, 2022

Think that Cheeto's acolytes will want people to honor elections that go the way the Cheeto's acolytes want?

I'm thinking yes.


But for elections that don't go their way?


The preemptive whining has already started.

From the New York Times via Yahoo! -

Echoing Trump, These Republicans Won't Promise to Accept 2022 Results

Nearly two years after President Donald Trump refused to accept his defeat in the 2020 election, some of his most loyal Republican acolytes might follow in his footsteps.

When asked, six Trump-backed Republican nominees for governor and the Senate in midterm battlegrounds would not commit to accepting this year’s election results, and another five Republicans ignored or declined to answer a question about embracing the November outcome. All of them, along with many other GOP candidates, have preemptively cast doubt on how their states count votes.

[snip]

Aides to several Republican nominees for governor who have questioned the 2020 election’s legitimacy did not respond to repeated requests for comment on their own races in November. Those candidates included Doug Mastriano of Pennsylvania, Kari Lake of Arizona, Tim Michels of Wisconsin and Dan Cox of Maryland.

Lake was asked in a radio interview this month whether she would concede a defeat to Katie Hobbs, her Democratic rival and Arizona’s secretary of state. “I’m not losing to Katie Hobbs,” Lake replied.

Hobbs’ spokesperson, Sarah Robinson, said her candidate “will accept the results of the election in November.”

[snip]

In Arizona — where Republicans spent months on a government-funded review of 2020 ballots that failed to show any evidence of fraud — Masters, the Trump-backed Republican nominee for Senate, baselessly predicted to supporters in July that even if he defeated Sen. Mark Kelly, the incumbent Democrat, enough votes would somehow be produced to flip the result.

“There’s always cheating, probably, in every election,” Masters said. “The question is, what’s the cheating capacity?”

A Masters aide, Katie Miller, sent the Times an August article in The Arizona Republic in which Masters said there was “evidence of incompetence” but not of fraud in the state’s primary election. Miller declined to say if Masters would respect the November results.

Kelly “has total trust in Arizona’s electoral process,” said a spokesperson, Sarah Guggenheimer.

Get ready for a bumpy ride - the election may be over on November 8th, but the need for cheese to go with that whine will go on for a while.  


A long while.


Friday, September 16, 2022

Katie Hobbs declines a debate with her opponent for AZ governor, Kari Lake. It was a wise choice.

From KJZZ, written by Lauren Gilger and Ron Dungan -

Katie Hobbs says no to Arizona governor debate against Kari Lake

Democrat Katie Hobbs’ campaign announced Sunday that she would not debate Republican Kari Lake as the two battle for the Arizona governor’s office, calling off any negotiations with Lake and the state commission overseeing debates.

The decision came after more than a week of efforts by Hobbs, currently secretary of state, to change the debate into separate half-hour interviews with the moderator. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission, which has held debates for two decades featuring candidates for statewide and legislative offices, flatly rejected that proposal on Thursday.

Instead, the commission urged its staff to work with Hobbs to come up with minor changes to the debate and gave her a week to come to an agreement. Hobbs' campaign manager's statements to the commissioners made it seem unlikely that a deal could be reached.

Nicole DeMont instead repeated the campaign's concerns that debating Lake would "just create another spectacle, like we saw in the GOP primary debate. But on top of that, I would just add, you can’t debate a conspiracy theorist and at the last debate, she brought the conversation back to the 2020 election no less than a dozen times.”

The GOP primary debate featured four candidates who almost immediately devolved into a free-for-all of talking over and constantly interrupting each other.

From Goodreads -










Of course, I don't believe that Lake is a fool.

Nope, she's a nutjob.


The quote still works though.



Friday, July 08, 2022

Primary Ballots Are In!































While I've decided who I'm going to vote for in some of the primary races, regardless of how they turn out, everyone involved seems to be a decent human being.  As such, there won't be any "nose-holding" in the general election.

No matter who emerges from the primaries, I hope the runners-up stay involved in the political process.  Their energy is needed, both to help the primary winners in the general election, and to be leaders for the rest of us.

When I "hold my nose" and vote for someone in spite of my misgivings because that person is better than the alternative, I may be right about the "better" part, but I still usually regret the vote (see: Sinema, Kysten).


Having said that, I *have* made a few decisions.


In the governor's race, I'll be voting for Katie Hobbs.  I've known her since she was an LD24 legislator and I lived in LD24.  She was impressive then, is impressive as Secretary of State, and I think that she'll make a great governor.

















In the race for secretary of state, I'll be voting for Adrian Fontes.  He did a fantastic job as Maricopa County Recorder, and will be an outstanding SOS.







I live in LD5 now (didn't move; just got redistricted) and that's where I haven't made up my mind yet.










All pics (except the ballot) from the website of the AZSOS; federal candidates here; statewide candidates here, and legislative candidates here.

Sunday, June 05, 2022

Arizona leading the way, but not in a good way

Pointed at this by the Election Law Blog.

From the Brennan Center for Justice -

Arizona Is the Epicenter of the Fight for Voting Rights Today

One of the worst voter suppression laws in the nation, fueled by conspiracy theories, has pushed Arizona to the forefront of the fight for voting rights.

In a brazen repu­di­ation of federal law and recent Supreme Court preced­ent, Arizona recently enacted a law requir­ing docu­ment­ary proof of citizen­ship to vote by mail or in pres­id­en­tial elec­tions. In 2021, Arizona was one of the 17 states nation­wide to enact new restrict­ive voting laws. Now it’s trying to break away from the rest of the voter suppres­sion pack.

After a year and a half of conspir­acy theor­ies, a partisan postelec­tion “audit,” anti­demo­cratic legis­la­tion, elec­tion sabot­age rhet­oric from polit­ical candid­ates, and a Supreme Court ruling further weak­en­ing the Voting Rights Act, Arizona has become a key battle­ground in the fight for voting rights.

[snip]

Further, H.B. 2492 could be an attempt to push the Supreme Court to further erode voting rights. The Court recently held that Arizon­a’s previ­ous attempt to require docu­ment­ary proof of citizen­ship for federal voter regis­tra­tion viol­ated the National Voter Regis­tra­tion Act. This new law seems designed as an invit­a­tion to the Court to recon­sider that ruling. 

Since the 2020 elec­tion, Arizona lawmakers have shown a consist­ent interest in using false claims about voter fraud as the raw mater­ial for justi­fy­ing new restrict­ive voting laws.

HB2492 has been signed into law by Doug Ducey, Arizona's Governor; his letter to Katie Hobbs, Arizona's Secretary of State, is a shining example of self-serving doublespeak.

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Well, Brnovich has the "hypocrite" part of being an R down pat...

...of course, being a good hypocrite may make him a lousy AZAG.


From Ben Giles of the Associated Press, published at KJZZ (emphasis added by me) -

Brnovich sues Hobbs in dispute over election procedures

Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is joining with Republican Party officials to sue Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in an escalation of a dispute over the election procedures manual she is required to complete.

The two have been at odds for months over the manual that tells county officials how to run elections, and have tangled in other fights as well. Brnovich threatened to investigate Hobbs for temporarily taking down an online signature collection system used by candidates in order to update it with new congressional and legislative district maps approved early this year.

[snip]

Hobbs submitted the manual as required on Oct. 1, but Brnovich refused to approve it. That left the one she completed two years before as the guidelines for the 2020 elections. A contract lawyer Brnovich hired to review the manual sent her a letter in early December where he said large parts of it did not meet legal requirements.

In a Dec. 17 response, Hobbs told Brnovich much of the rejected material had been approved just two years earlier by him and Gov. Doug Ducey.

[snip]

Brnovich’s decision to sue Hobbs stands in contrast to his handling of the previous secretary of state, Republican Michele Reagan, who never completed an election procedures manual during her four years in office — during one election cycle, she didn’t even bother to write one.

At the time, Brnovich rejected a complaint by attorney Tom Ryan seeking the attorney general’s prosecution of Reagan.