Victories in Arizona and Colorado

 

On February 16, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona denied the State of Arizona’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging two recently enacted voter suppression laws, H.B. 2492 and H.B. 2243, for imposing severe, arbitrary, and discriminatory burdens on Arizona voters that undermine their freedom to vote and violate federal law. Under the challenged laws, many Arizonans are denied the freedom to vote based on the type of voter registration form they submit and whether they can obtain, copy and submit additional paperwork that proves their current residence and U.S. citizenship status with their voter registration. H.B. 2492 further discriminates against naturalized citizens by requiring them to disclose their place of their birth, which is irrelevant to any voter qualification. These policies discriminate against entire sectors of voters, including Native voters who face unique barriers to voting and voters born outside the United States. They violate the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Voting Rights Act. This victory is one step forward in the ongoing effort to protect our constitutional right to vote. Free Speech For People is proud to partner with the Campaign Legal Center and our other co-counsel in litigating this critical case on behalf of leading voting rights organizations in Arizona. Our democracy depends on secure and inclusive elections, and we will keep fighting to protect the fundamental right to vote. Will you chip in to help us continue our efforts to protect voting rights nationwide? We also achieved a victory in Colorado earlier this month, where a federal judge ruled that the leaders of the United States Election Integrity Plan (USEIP), an extremist organization with ties to QAnon and the January 6 insurrection, cannot escape a trial in our lawsuit seeking to stop their illegal voter intimidation campaign in Colorado. USEIP has been conducting a door-to-door campaign of intimidation at voters’ homes, in which its agents (sometimes armed) question voters about their method of voting, interrogate them about so-called fraudulent ballots, levy baseless accusations of fraud against voters, and take photographs of voters’ homes to store in a database. The organization tried to prevent the case from going to trial by filing multiple motions, and even counter-suing the voting rights organizations that Free Speech For People represents in this lawsuit (the NAACP of Colorado, League of Women Voters of Colorado, and Mi Familia Vota) for defamation and abuse of process. We’re ready to take the leaders of USEIP and Arizona’s election officials to court for attacking the constitutional right to vote. We will continue to fight for the free and fair democracy promised to us all. But our success depends on you. Thanks for all you do, Free Speech For People DONATE Paid for by Free Speech For People contact@freespeechforpeople.org