August, 17 2021, 12:55pm EDT
Voting Rights Groups File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Arizona's New Voter Suppression Laws
Citing the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a coalition of voting rights groups seeks federal court intervention to protect the right to vote in Arizona.
WASHINGTON
Mi Familia Vota, Arizona Coalition for Change, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), and Chispa Arizona filed suit today in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona seeking to block new voter suppression laws enacted by the Arizona Legislature.
The lawsuit challenges two recently enacted laws designed to suppress the votes of Arizonans of color and other marginalized Arizonans. Senate Bill 1485 (the "Voter Purge Law") ends Arizona's permanent early voting list (PEVL) and removes voters from the early voting list when they do not vote in two consecutive election cycles and fail to respond to a notice. This will remove up to 150,000 voters from the early voting list. Senate Bill 1003 (the "Cure Period Law") requires voters who submit a mail-in ballot missing a required signature to fix the issue by 7:00 PM on Election Day, despite allowing ballots with "mismatched" signatures to be cured up to five days after Election Day.
"The Voter Purge Law and the Cure Period Law violate the right of all Arizonans to vote," the complaint alleges. "Neither law responds to any genuine shortcoming in Arizona's election system or furthers any valid state interest."
The plaintiffs also allege, "The laws will have a severe and disproportionate impact on voters of color in Arizona, especially Native American, Latino, and Black voters...It is no coincidence that the Arizona legislature enacted these changes only after an election in which (1) for the first time in recent memory, the presidential candidate preferred by Arizona voters of color won; and (2) voters of color increasingly used early voting--the target of the new laws--to help elect their candidate of choice."
The plaintiffs argue that these two laws violate the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They are asking the Court to block the state's election officials from enforcing the laws and ensure ongoing compliance.
"The right to vote of hundreds of thousands of Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters in Arizona is on the line in this case," said Carolina Rodriguez-Greer, the Arizona State Director for Mi Familia Vota. "SB 1485 and SB 1003 will severely burden voters of color and these bills were designed with the intent to disenfranchise such voters. Voter suppression has no place in a democracy. The courts must now protect us from this attack on our most fundamental right."
"The right to vote is much more than political gamesmanship. The right to vote is sacred and people have given their lives and freedom for communities to have the ability to exercise that right," said Reginald Bolding, Founder and Executive Director of Arizona Coalition for Change. "SB1485 and SB1003 will make it more difficult for underrepresented communities to use their vote as their voice during elections. These laws serve as a barrier and will lead to preventing access to the ballot box. Legislatures across the country must stand on the right side of history and choose democracy over politics. And, when they trample on the right to vote, we need the judiciary to intervene to protect the franchise," Bolding continued. Arizona Coalition for Change is a community civic engagement and power building group tackling our nation's most pressing issues.
"SB1485 and SB1003 are manifestations of previously failed voter suppression bills aimed at suppressing the vote of Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters," said Alex Gomez, LUCHA's Co-Executive Director. "For decades, LUCHA and our partners have organized to dismantle discrimination and voter suppression and to transform the political landscape in Arizona by enfranchising hundreds of thousands of Latinx people through voter registration and GOTV efforts. Those in power in Arizona are terrified that the state's electorate is dramatically changing, becoming younger and more diverse. In an attempt to retain their political power, they have launched an assault on the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters. We are filing this lawsuit today to seek federal court intervention to protect our right to vote."
"At Chispa Arizona, we believe in a reflective democracy that works for all of us. That cannot happen if Arizona leaders punish voters through bills like SB 1485 and SB 1003, which create more barriers to the ballot and disenfranchise Black, Brown and Indigenous communities," said Vianey Olivarria, Chispa AZ State Co-Director. Chispa AZ is a program of the League of Conservation Voters that aims to amplify Latinx voices, political power, and civic engagement.
Members of the coalition are being represented by attorneys from Free Speech For People, Mayer Brown LLP, and Quarles & Brady, LLP. Free Speech For People, a nonpartisan nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to defending our democracy, previously filed a federal lawsuit last year against election officials in Arizona to extend the voter registration period in the state, citing restrictions on registration activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Victory in the case, brought on behalf of Mi Familia Vota and Arizona Coalition for Change, resulted in more than 35,000 new voters being able to register to vote in advance of the 2020 general election.
"Arizona election officials have stated that there has been no incident of widespread voter fraud in connection with Arizona's vote-by-mail system in its 30-year history, and that the 2020 elections were successful," said Courtney Hostetler, Senior Counsel for Free Speech For People. "These laws will not prevent non-existent fraud; they will, however, make voting less accessible, particularly for voters of color in Arizona. This case will further our goal of securing free and fair elections for Arizona voters by ensuring that mail-in ballots, the preferred method of voting by the vast majority of Arizona voters, is freely and fairly accessible to all voters, regardless of race, ethnicity, or access to election offices."
Read the full complaint here.
Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to defend our democracy and our Constitution.
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I look forward to offering amendments tomorrow to cut billions in offensive military funding to Israel from the proposed national security supplemental package and protect essential humanitarian operations. We cannot continue to fund this horrific war. pic.twitter.com/8JpxpT7IX2
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 23, 2024
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Over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by U.S.-backed Israeli troops, and Columbia University students have been suspended and arrested by New York Police Department officers in recent days for protesting the slaughter—which led to a walkout by the Ivy League institution's faculty on Monday.
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Summary of events from the last day not related to Columbia:\n\n- Israel has not provided evidence that UNRWA staff are part of Hamas\n- A mass grave, including women/children was discovered\n- Doctors did an emergency c-section, saving a baby after an airstrikes killed her mother— (@)
The walkout in New York City followed 54 Columbia Law School professors sending a letter to administrators that states, "While we as a faculty disagree about the relevant political issues and express no opinion on the merits of the protest, we are writing to urge respect for basic rule-of-law values that ought to govern our university."
"Procedural irregularity, a lack of transparency about the university's decision-making, and the extraordinary involvement of the NYPD all threaten the university's legitimacy within its own community and beyond its gates," they wrote. "We urge the university to conform student discipline to clear and well-established procedures that respect the rule of law."
In a statement early Monday, several hours before the walkout, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik—who last week enabled NYPD arrests of students at the encampment—announced in her first statement since the sweep that all classes would be virtual "to deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps."
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The national group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on Monday accused Columbia of creating "a climate of repression and harm for students peacefully protesting for an end to the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza" over the past six months.
"Columbia University has actively created a hostile environment for students who are Palestinian or who support Palestinian freedom. Additionally, the administration's actions have made the campus much less safe for Jewish students," JVP said.
According to JVP:
Instead of listening to the calls of Columbia and Barnard students to divest from the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government, the university has called in the NYPD to arrest students, suspended them, and even expelled them. At present 85 students, 15 of whom are Jewish, are suspended.
Yesterday's statement by the White House, like the administrators of Columbia University, dangerously and inaccurately presumes that all Jewish students support the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians. This assumption is actively harming Palestinian and Jewish students.
The administration has not only harassed Jewish students and failed to ensure their safety and well-being, it has also obstructed their religious observances during Shabbat and prevented them from accessing their Jewish community on the eve of Passover.
While President Joe Biden's Sunday statement was officially about Passover—a Jewish holiday that begins at sundown on Monday—and not the protests at Columbia and other campuses across the country, it was widely received as a response to the latter.
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Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a Ph.D. student at the university, toldCNN that "Columbia students organizing in solidarity with Palestine—including Jewish students—have faced harassment, doxxing, and now arrest by the NYPD. These are the main threats to the safety of Jewish Columbia students."
"On the other hand, student protesters have led interfaith joint prayers for several days now, and Passover Seder will be held at the Gaza solidarity encampment tomorrow," he added. "Saying that student protesters are a threat to Jewish students is a dangerous smear."
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said in a lengthy statement that "we are student activists at Columbia calling for divestment from genocide. We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us. At universities across the nation, our movement is united in valuing every human life."
"As a diverse group united by love and justice, we demand our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza," the statement continues. "We've been horrified each day, watching children crying over the bodies of their slain parents, families without food to eat, and doctors operating without anesthesia. Our university is complicit in this violence and this is why we protest."
The Columbia Spectator reported Monday that Columbia College passed a divestment referendum that "asked whether the university should divest financially from Israel, cancel the Tel Aviv Global Center, and end Columbia's dual degree program with Tel Aviv University," with respective votes of 76.55%, 68.36%, and 65.62%. However, a statement from a university spokesperson signaled the referendum would not lead to any shift in campus policies.
Beyond Columbia, there are ongoing demonstrations at institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, the University of Michigan, and Yale University, another Ivy League school, where at least 47 peaceful student protesters were arrested on Monday.
Those arrested were "charged with class A misdemeanors, which is the highest class of misdemeanors in Connecticut—the same degree applies to third-degree assault," according to the Yale Daily News. Citing a university spokesperson, the student newspaper added that they "will be referred for Yale disciplinary action—which could include reprimand, probation, or suspension."
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