| NEWS | Vote Early and Never Arizona Republicans try to end early and mail-in voting. BY ELIAS WEISS nix the method that voters in the state have used to cast ballots for the past 30 years. Arizona is among the most competitive battleground states in the nation and midterm elections are rapidly approaching. Arizona voters rely on early mail-in A voting more than every other state. In the last election, 89 percent voted by mail, at four times the rate as the national average, according to the Pew Research Center. Yvonne Cahill is the elected secretary of the Republican Party of Arizona and is named in the lawsuit filed late last month. Cahill is a luxury real estate agent in Scottsdale, according to her LinkedIn profile. But in court, she’s an Arizona voter and taxpayer representing the Republican Party. Critics claim that Republicans are throwing up yet another roadblock for voters under the guise of security issues when no security breaches have happened. A string of recounts, audits, certifications, and legal challenges all upheld the integ- rity of the 2020 presidential ballot. Still, the GOP is calling out early voting as a problem. “In-person voting at the polls on a fixed date is the only constitutionally permissible manner of voting,” wrote Alexander Kolodin, attorney for Phoenix-based Davillier Law Group LLC, which represents the Arizona Republican Party in the lawsuit. If the petition is successful, the state would be barred from allowing mail-in and drop-box voting in future elections, including Arizona’s primaries on August 2 and midterms on November 8. Critics claim the legal challenge is merely a political ploy to tarnish the repu- tation of Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor. They accuse the Republicans of trying to mislead voters by suggesting that she is flaunting state law. “Secretary Hobbs has taken this uncon- 10 stitutional act and run with it,” Kolodin said in an email to Phoenix New Times. The Arizona Constitution awards all rizona Republicans are trying in the legislature and the courts to end the long- established and popular tradition of early voting. The Arizona Republican Party wants to voters the right to “secrecy in voting,” which Kolodin argues is negated when ballots are completed off-site and subject to coercion out of the view of supervisory election officials. The nascent lawsuit begs the question of why GOP leaders are defying the whims of their constituents, critics suggest. There are more Republican voters in Arizona than any other political affiliation, more than Democrats and Libertarians combined. As of January, there were more than 1.5 million registered Republican voters in the state. At least half of Arizona Republicans vote by mail. “Even Republican legislators them- selves voted early in the 2020 election,” Raquel Terán, a Democrat state represen- tative who represents west Phoenix, told New Times. Terán also serves as the chairwoman of the Arizona Democratic Party. “Any attempt to get rid of the early voting system is motivated by the extrem- ists taking over the Republican Party,” she said. “The lawsuit shows just how desperate they are to make it harder for people to vote.” Even though Republicans widely avail themselves of voting by mail, it’s not in their best interest, some GOP leaders argue. “The debate over the integrity of our elections has been divisive because it has been led by politicians,” said Joanna Duka, a Phoenix-based Republican political strategist. “Early voting is popular but ultimately, voters care more about security than convenience.” Hobbs has been an outspoken advocate for mail-in and early voting since taking office in 2019 and is expected to file the state’s defense with the Arizona Supreme Court by March 11. The case will continue without oral argument, according to Supreme Court records. All seven justices on Arizona’s high court were appointed by Republican governors. “This lawsuit has a single aim — to make it more difficult to vote,” said Hobbs in a statement. “I look forward to once again defending the voters of Arizona and defeating this ridiculous attempt to under- mine our elections.” The Arizona Republican Party cites a 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform report in justifying the lawsuit. The report’s authors argued that voter confidence in the election system was lower than ever and that reforming voter identification rules would help. Former President Jimmy Carter and former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III co-chaired that commission. During their tenure, the duo claimed that “absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud,” citing the noto- rious case of absentee ballot fraud >> p 12 MARCH 10TH– MARCH 16TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
