Before I could step back from a table, a woman started to explain the Fair Elections Act in great detail. I eventually was able to tell her that I had written a large part of it. They quickly saddled me with 40 pounds of petitions to take to the next level of collection point.
The Arizona Fair Elections Act was endorsed Wednesday by the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Tohono O’odham, the San Carlos Apache, and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Tribe. The endorsements which will appear in a booklet mailed to every Arizona voter are all moving, but I’ll share the words of Fort McDowell President Bernadine Burnette:
Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, two Fort McDowell Yavapai men, were among
many Native Americans who loyally and bravely served their nation in World War II. When they returned home after the war ended, the two men sought to register to vote at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office. Their requests were denied, setting in motion events that eventually confirmed the right of Native Americans to vote in state elections.
After their request to register to vote was rejected, Harrison and Austin filed a lawsuit alleging that they were denied their constitutional right to vote in state elections. They lost in Maricopa County Superior Court but prevailed on appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, who found that the men were American and Arizona citizens and therefore had the right to vote. That 1948 decision affirmed Native Americans’ voting rights in Arizona and helped blaze the path for all Native Americans throughout the country to have the right to vote.
But even having the law on their side didn’t prevent state and local governments from erecting barriers to Native Americans’ exercise of their voting rights. Numerous laws and procedures have been adopted in recent years that have made it more difficult for Natives to vote. This is particularly true for Natives residing on large remote reservations.
Many bills were introduced in the just completed 2022 legislative session that make it harder for citizens to vote. These changes would disproportionately impact Native Americans and make it more difficult for them to exercise their hard-won constitutional right to vote.
Please vote ”Yes” for the Arizona Fair Elections Act.
It protects voting rights for all of us and honors the many sacrifices of our military veterans.
Republicans still scramble to proclaim they are the true lover of Trump, while trying to cast their Republican opponents as harlots who don’t know what true Trump love really is. Giant signs have sprouted up across the state showing Republican candidate and former Fox anchor Kari Lake in evening clothes with Obama. She is supposed to have given money to Obama, but a search of many pages of gushing coverage of the donation she made to Obama provides no amount. I am beginning to think the whole point of the signs is to suggest she took Obama to the prom.
Meanwhile, Trump is determined that Lake will defeat Karrin. Yes, an actual Karrin. She apparently has some additional names but they are too small on her signs to read. When Lake and Karrin finish their battle in the August primary, it’s hard to believe that either one will have momentum to keep a Democrat out of the governor’s seat. (Arizona does not have a governor’s mansion. I had to look it up.).
The many bad Supreme Court rulings and resulting mass shootings have really lit a fire under Democratic activists. It is only July and it is beginning to feel like the final days before a presidential election. I often wonder how many of the people who are lukewarm on Biden are to his left, and how they will vote in this critical midterm. My guess at this point is that they vote heavily and provide the majority needed to codify Roe.
If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to us at secure.everyaction.com/... , If you would like to contribute, please reach out at ActBlue or you can send a check to Arizona Deserves Better, c/o Eric Kramer, 1910 Douglas Fir Dr., Pinetop, AZ 85935
Stop Dark Money and Healthcare Rising also have their petition turn-in today. Dark Money requires campaign contributions to be disclosed back to their source. The Predatory Debt Collection Act stops abuse of people who owe money, particularly those who have had expensive medical procedures.