Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes are once again being accused of ignoring state statute after they refused to accept the nomination by LD29 Precinct Committeemen of James Taylor.
The Arizona GOP announced on Friday its intent to sue Fontes and Richer if they continue to block the placement of Taylor on the ballot as prescribed by Arizona law.
The nomination of Taylor was made by LD29 Republicans on a 76-23 vote, to replace Rep. Austin Smith, who withdrew his candidacy for the LD29 House seat.
State statute provides for the political parties to pick a new candidate to be placed on the ballot should one of their candidates withdraw. As noted by KJZZ, just days before Republicans selected Taylor, LD8 Democrats “chose Lauren Kuby to replace Rep. Melody Hernandez (D-Tempe), who withdrew from the district’s state Senate primary.”
Richer and Fontes have offered different justifications for blocking Taylor.
Richer, who has been regularly accused of putting his thumb on the scales when it comes to election rules and procedures that would either benefit or harm candidates, claims the LD29 Precinct Committeemen missed their chance to nominate Taylor because ballots for the upcoming Republican Primary have already gone to the printer.
“Board already designed the thousands of ballot styles and sent them to printer,” Richer tweeted. “This isn’t a thing.”
However, say sources, the ballots have not yet been sent to the printer and should not have, unless Richer is admitting to violating another state statue.
Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 16-461 requires election officials across the state to “submit the sample ballot proof of each party to the county chairman or in city or town primaries to the city or town chairman.” That did not happen according to the Arizona GOP.
16-461. Sample primary election ballots; submission to party chairmen for examination; preparation, printing and distribution of ballot
A. At least forty-five days before a primary election, the officer in charge of that election shall:
1. Prepare a proof of a sample ballot.
2. Submit the sample ballot proof of each party to the county chairman or in city or town primaries to the city or town chairman.
3. Mail a sample ballot proof to each candidate for whom a nomination paper and petitions have been filed.
B. Within five days after receipt of the sample ballot, the county chairman of each political party shall suggest to the election officer any change the chairman considers should be made in the chairman’s party ballot, and if on examination the election officer finds an error or omission in the ballot the officer shall correct it. The election officer shall cause the sample ballots to be printed and distributed as required by law, shall maintain a copy of each sample ballot and shall post a notice indicating that sample ballots are available on request. The official sample ballot shall be printed on colored paper or white paper with a different colored stripe for each party that is represented on that ballot. For voters who are not registered with a party that is entitled to continued representation on the ballot pursuant to section 16-804, the election officer may print and distribute the required sample ballots in an alternative format, including a reduced size format.
C. Not later than forty days before a primary election, the county chairman of a political party may request one sample primary election ballot of the chairman’s party for each election precinct.
“The Maricopa County GOP had not received any sample ballots to approve, as required by law, and all that has to happen before anything can be sent to the printers.” said one GOP official, “Richer knows he hasn’t sent anything to the printers legally, so why is he fighting so hard to keep the GOP’s candidate off the ballot?”
For his part, Fontes’ office originally refused to accept the filing documents in person, then rejected the documents that were filed electronically. In a bizarre twist, Fontes claimed that his hands were tied by a court order that created a May 13th deadline to replace candidates.
In an email to LD29 Chairman Steve Skvara, Fontes wrote “…We cannot accept nominations or any other filing documents that are not within the established statutory deadlines. In this case, the fact the ballot printing deadline passed four days ago. Attached please find court order CV2024-008687 that established May 13, 2024 as the ballot printing deadline for Maricopa County.”
As noted by the AZGOP, there is no legal date that acts as a deadline, it is merely a question of when the ballots are sent to the printers. Making Fontes’ claim more dubious was that his copy of the so-called court order was not a court order at all, just an argument made by the Maricopa County Attorney’s office in a prior and unrelated case, indicating the county’s preference for a May 13th deadline. No such court order was ever provided.
“It isn’t a surprise Fontes is playing games to try to give the Democrats an advantage in this otherwise safe GOP district,” said the GOP official, “but his strategy seems to be to just say anything and just stall for as long as possible, hoping to run out the clock, because that whole phony court order thing is a joke.”
For its part, the AZGOP is prepared to take legal action to force Fontes and Richer to follow the law. The AZGOP issued a statement that read:
Last night, LD29 Republican Precinct Committeemen selected James Taylor to replace Rep. Austin Smith, who voluntarily withdrew his candidacy on April 18, 2024.
The Arizona Republican Party has submitted a nomination paper and declaration for James Taylor, as required. Acting District Chairman Steven Skvara’s filing was rejected by the Secretary of State earlier today.
The Arizona Republican Party insist that the Secretary of State and the Maricopa County Recorder adhere to their statutory obligations to accept James Taylor‘s nomination and include his name on the primary ballot. We are prepared to take legal action to ensure that the voters of LD29 are fairly represented and that their choice is honored on the ballot.
We believe in the importance of adhering to the law and ensuring that the electoral process is conducted fairly and transparently. The Republican Party of Arizona remains committed to holding these principles and will take all necessary steps to ensure compliance with state election laws.