The Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted to reject a complaint leveled by Democrats that Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer improperly boosted her re-election campaign a by appearing in a television commercial informing voters of identification requirements brought into law by Prop 200.
The 4-1 vote occurred as lawyers for Mrs. Brewer and other election officials defended Prop 200’s identification requirements in U.S. District Court from a lawsuit filed by a conglomerate of minority and civil rights organizations that allege the initiative passed in 2004 will disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Mrs. Brewer rejected the claim filed with the CCEC by David Waid, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party. She said it is a politically motivated attack against her and Prop 200.
“It’s nothing more than political rhetoric by Democrats who were opposed to voter identification since day one,” said Mrs. Brewer, a day before the meeting. “I will not, not do my job.”
Mr. Waid, in an Aug. 23 letter to Todd Lang, executive director of the CCEC, said the ad violates Arizona’s elections statutes because of its close proximity to elections and the unnecessary appearance of the Republican official — even though there is no specific mention of her candidacy.
The commission acted upon recommendation by Mr. Lang, who said that incumbents do have certain advantages, but Mrs. Brewer’s commercial did not expressly advocate for her re-election.
“Is there an unfair advantage for incumbents that can do something like this?” he asked the commission. “Of course there is.”
Rhonda Barnes, an attorney for the Arizona Democratic Party, told the commission that Mrs. Brewer’s actions set a “frightening precedent” and the secretary is “using the power of incumbency to subvert the Clean Elections Act.”
The commercials and Mrs. Brewer were defended by Glenn Hamer, executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, who said Mrs. Brewer, as the state’s chief elections officer, is obligated to inform voters of Prop 200’s requirements.
“Essentially, Mrs. Brewer is being criticized for doing her job,” he said, adding that Democrats will also benefit from the effort that would result in fewer ballots being disqualified.
In mid-June, attorneys representing Mrs. Brewer successfully opposed a lawsuit in federal court that sought to suspend the voter requirements of Prop 200. After the decision, she announced that she would not “waiver in defense of the will of the voters.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including the Intertribal Council of Arizona, the League of Women Voters of Arizona, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Arizona Advocacy Network and state Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-13, argued that Prop 200’s requirements were unconstitutional because they trumped federal law and disenfranchised minorities.
The same core of plaintiffs filed suit in U.S. District Court on Aug. 4, again seeking to halt Prop 200’s voter identification requirements. One opponent of the proposition, Linda Brown, of the Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation, said it creates an “undue burden” to voters and does not protect polling integrity.
“These measures do absolutely nothing to protect the ballot box from fraudulent voting,” while disenfranchising “tens of thousands of voters,” she said.
Since implementation, 11 Arizona counties have rejected 20,7013 voter registration forms for the failure to include “satisfactory evidence of citizenship,” according to the lawsuit.