The judge’s decision to block provisions meant to protect voters and poll workers stems from a recent lawsuit filed by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club against Adrian Fontes’ office. COURTESY: Arizona Secretary of State / Facebook
Voter and poll worker protection should be a priority
Protecting voters and poll workers in Arizona is one of Adrian Fontes’ top priorities. For this reason, Arizona’s secretary of state has added new provisions to the state’s latest election manual to block voter intimidation.
Some of those provisions include new rules designed to prevent voter intimidation. The manual defines behavior that is considered harassment or intimidation, such as yelling at people returning their ballots or openly carrying firearms within 250 feet of a ballot drop box.
Despite a recent decision by a judge declaring these provisions unconstitutional, Fontes has stated his intention to fight for these voter protections.
“I’m going to fight like hell to make sure we have peaceful processes so our constituents are treated with dignity during this incredibly important time,” Fontes said in a radio interview.
The Democrat said his office plans to file an appeal to protect voters statewide.
He hopes to speed up this process as quickly as possible, as the general elections on November 5 are three months away.
The judge’s decision to block provisions intended to protect voters and poll workers stems from a recent lawsuit filed by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club against Fontes’ office.
The legal battle centered on the constitutionality of the Arizona Election Manual, which sets the rules for elections in counties, cities and towns throughout Arizona.
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has taken issue with the latest updates to the manual and has filed a legal challenge to the constitutionality of its most recent sections.
Some of those newer sections include rules that specifically prohibit blocking entry to a polling place and also restrict poll workers or voters arriving or leaving polling places from following their vehicles.
“This is part of the language that we included, which was also in the 2019 manual, by the way, that the Enterprise Club wanted to block and now they have blocked,” Fontes said.
The blockage came after the Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed a complaint against the Arizona Election Manual in February.
The club argued that the rules were unconstitutional and jeopardized protected political speech with potential criminal prosecution.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge sided with the club in the election lawsuit. Judge Jennifer Ryan-Touhill ruled that several provisions in the most recent election manual intended to protect poll workers and voters restricted Arizonans’ free speech.
His ruling, issued Monday, said changes designed to stop voter intimidation were “excessive” and “unenforceable.”
“We celebrate the protection of Arizonans’ First Amendment rights as they exercise their sacred privilege to vote in free and fair elections,” said Scot Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, in a news release.
“The judge correctly noted that certain portions of Secretary Fontes’ illegal and radical manual were nothing more than a blatant attempt to destroy the integrity and transparency of state elections.”
Fontes strongly disagrees with the group’s position.
“The Free Enterprise Club is doing something wrong here and they are absolutely unjustified in what they are doing, pretending that some stranger who wants to yell at voters has more important First Amendment rights than voters who are peacefully gathered to vote,” Fontes said. “That is absolutely wrong and I will not tolerate it.”
Fontes said the club’s claims of defending freedom of expression were unconvincing.
In fact, they will degrade voter protections, he said.
