The Republican National Committee joined the Republican Party of Arizona on Tuesday to file a lawsuit which alleges Maricopa County and several county officials are dragging their collective feet on responding to a public records request.
Back on Sept. 9, an attorney for the RNC sought information on the staffing and composition of various election-related boards utilized by Maricopa County. There were “serious concerns,” according to the attorney, about the county’s hiring and appointment of Republican poll workers and board workers during the August primary election, and the potential for the repeated inequity in the general election.
Other than one email explaining some of the underlying issues raised in the request, there was no other response from the county. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) would later insist the Sept. 9 communication was not considered a request under the Arizona Public Records Act.
Then on Sept. 29, another attorney for the RNC renewed the Sept. 9 request along with a list of additional public records. This second correspondence gave Maricopa County officials until Oct. 3 to respond.
In response, MCAO Division Chief Thomas Liddy insisted it was the only public records submitted by the RNC on the subject of election works and boards.
“In your letter, you referred to a prior letter, sent by Eric Spencer on September 9, 2022, as a ‘public records request.’ It was not. Rather, it was a demand letter, which threatened litigation. The letter nowhere referenced the public records law nor stated it was making a public records request, and the County certainly did not understand it as such,” Liddy wrote.
Liddy also pushed back on the RNC’s Oct. 3 deadline.
“Our client will seek to fulfill your public records request promptly, as the law requires. You have demanded, however, that it be fulfilled within 96 hours, 48 of which occurs over a weekend,” Liddy wrote. “Neither the statute nor the relevant caselaw will uphold the proposition that a response within such a short time-frame is required.”
The lawsuit filed Oct. 4 has been assigned to Judge Daniel Kiley of the Maricopa County Superior Court. He has been asked by the RNC and AZGOP to conduct a show cause hearing as soon as possible.
“In the absence of an immediate and comprehensive production of the requested public records, the RNC cannot effectively monitor or verify that critical election positions are being organized and filled in a manner that is compliant with governing law and that is fair and equitable to the Republican Party, Republican candidates for public office, and Republican voters,” the lawsuit argues.
Each election requires several poll workers and election boards, with some appointed by the board of supervisors and some by the county recorder. In some instances, state law requires an equal number between the major political parties, and demands input from the chairs of the county Democrat and Republican committees.
“The individuals who fill these positions are responsible for critical facets of the voting and ballot tabulation process, and the integrity of the impending election is dependent on equal representation of both major political parties, as required by law,” the lawsuit states.
But according to the lawsuit, the RNC and AZGOP believe poll workers at Maricopa County voting centers for the August 2022 primary election consisted of 857 Democrats and 712 Republicans. The plaintiffs also believe at least 11 county voting centers during that election had no Republican poll worker.
The lawsuit also notes other examples of inequities with Republican participation at voting centers and in other election positions.
“The substantive integrity and perceived legitimacy of our electoral system requires that it be open and accessible to both political parties on fair and equal terms,” the lawsuit states.
In addition to Maricopa County, the lawsuit names Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and the county’s two election directors -Scott Jarrett and Rey Valenzuela- as individual defendants, along with Supervisors Thomas Galvin, Steve Gallardo, Bill Gates, Clint Hickman, and Jack Sellers.
A show cause hearing could be held yet this week depending on Kiley’s calendar.
Tuesday’s lawsuit is not the first time the RNC has initiated legal action to seek compliance with various public records laws.
Last month the RNC sued Clark County, Nevada after county officials denied a request for a “partisan breakdown and political affiliation” of the county’s poll workers. The lawsuit argues the information is releasable under the Nevada Public Records Act, while Clark County has withheld the information for now under a claim of “election security” to protect poll workers from harassment.
“The RNC repeatedly tried to work with Clark Co., Nevada to ensure its election officials are following state law and have bipartisan representation among poll workers,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said when the lawsuit was filed. “The County has refused our good-faith efforts and is hiding records the public is legally allowed to see.”
The RNC also initiated litigation in July in Mercer County, New Jersey under that state’s Open Public Records Act to obtain records related to ballot cure letters issued in a 2021 election. The judge assigned to that case has indicated a ruling is expected next week.