Arizonans for Voter ID filed a complaint Wednesday with Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich against Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, alleging that he violated election law by posting a letter on his county website opposing their Proposition 309, which improves voter ID requirements. The complaint alleges violations of A.R.S. 11-410(A) and A.R.S. 16-192(A), which prohibit the use of government resources to influence an election.
Attorney Tim La Sota said in the letter, “I write today to bring to your attention apparent violations of two separate statutes that prohibit the use of public funds to influence an election. To wit, the violations involve a campaign that County Recorder Stephen Richer is waging against Proposition 309, which improves voter identification requirements. Unfortunately, Mr. Richer is using taxpayer money to wage this campaign.” La Sota went on, “This website is not at Mr. Richer’s disposal to use as a campaign website for his favored political causes.”
Arizonans for Voter ID tweeted, “Yesterday @stephen_richer violated election law, illegally using public resources to place the thumb of Govt on the scale to influence the outcome of an election.” A follow-up tweet added, “.@stephen_richer did this to voice his feelings on #Prop309 which ensures everyone shows ID, and wrongly claimed unanimous support for his letter, which doesn’t exist. We hope @GeneralBrnovich protects our elections from the inappropriate influence of the Recorder’s Office.”
The metadata from the document revealed that an employee named Cassidy Claridge authored the document during work hours, at 1:25 p.m. on Monday, October 10. The two state laws clearly state that government resources that may not be used to influence elections include “computer hardware and software,” “webpages,” and “personnel.”
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
