PHOENIX, AZ – Today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Voting Rights Project sent a letter to Arizona County Recorders and the Arizona Secretary of State clarifying Arizona election law concerning emergency early voting and signature match procedures.
On November 4, 2018, the Arizona Republican Party sent a letter to county recorders regarding two issues: (1) “misuse of ‘emergency’ early voting,” and (2) “post-election rehabilitation of facially defective early ballots.” The letter provided inaccurate and incomplete descriptions of key provisions of the Arizona Election Code, the Lawyers’ Committee has sent a letter to provide election officers and voters with a more robust and accurate summary of key election laws.
“We are concerned that the November 4, 2018 letter misrepresents Arizona law and the requirements in the Arizona Election Procedures Manual,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “We delivered our letter with the intent of clarifying what Arizona election code actually says.”
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law administers Election Protection, the country’s largest non-partisan coalition working to ensure that all eligible voters have an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process. The coalition includes nearly 200 local, state and national partners and the Election Protection hotline (866-OUR-VOTE) fields tens of thousands of calls from voters every election. The coalition includes a team of non-partisan voting rights attorneys and other voting rights specialists who have decades of experience with state and federal election laws.
Read the full Lawyers’ Committee Letter to AZ Election Officials
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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 55th year, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights. Learn more at Lawyerscommittee.org.
Contact: Derrick Robinson, Lawyers’ Committee, DRobinson@LawyersCommittee.org, 202-662-8317
