{"id":2023274,"date":"2023-09-06T11:21:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-arizonas-sloppy-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-contradicts-the-plain-language-of-state-law\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T11:24:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:24:43","slug":"court-arizonas-sloppy-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-contradicts-the-plain-language-of-state-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-arizonas-sloppy-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-contradicts-the-plain-language-of-state-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Court: Arizona&#8217;s ballot signature verification guidance contradicts state law."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-arizonas-sloppy-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-contradicts-the-plain-language-of-state-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2023274&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n      <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>An Arizona court found\u2063 on Friday that ballot signature\u200b verification guidance issued by the secretary\u2062 of state\u2019s office does \u201cnot have\u2062 the force\u2062 of law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/riteusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Superior-Court-State-of-Arizona-County-of-Yavapai-RITE-v.-Fontes.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruling<\/a> from Judge\u200d John\u2063 Napper, the Superior Court of Yavapai \u200dCounty denied\u200b motions \u2064to dismiss a complaint filed by Restoring\u200b Integrity \u2064and Trust in Elections\u2063 (RITE) against Secretary of State Adrian \u200bFontes, a \u200dDemocrat, that \u200calleged Arizona\u2019s Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) contains \u2063unlawful signature-match guidance. \u2062In Arizona, the EMP governs\u2062 how elections are run in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Under Arizona law, county recorders are required to compare\u200c the signature on a voter\u2019s \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-kraken-released-attorney-sidney-powell-files-104-page-bombshell-complaint-of-massive-fraud-in-georgia-election-update-michigan-too\/\" title=\"BREAKING: KRAKEN RELEASED! Attorney Sidney Powell Files 104 Page BOMBSHELL COMPLAINT of Massive Fraud in Georgia Election - Update: Michigan too\">ballot envelope<\/a> with \u2062the \u201csignature of\u2062 the elector on the \u2063elector\u2019s registration record.\u201d Arizona\u2019s current EMP, however, \u2063instructs county recorders to \u201cconsult and review\u200d not only \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leading-candidate-for-new-york-city-mayor-may-not-live-in-city-report-suggests\/\" title=\"Leading Candidate For New York City Mayor May Not Live In City, Report Suggests\">registration forms<\/a> but also \u2018additional known signatures from \u200bother official election documents in the \u200dvoter\u2019s registration \u200drecord, such as signature rosters or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-arizonas-sloppy-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-contradicts-the-plain-language-of-state-law\/\" title=\"Court: Arizona's ballot signature verification guidance contradicts state law.\">early \u200cballot [permanent early voting list] \u200c request \u200bforms<\/a>,&#8217;\u201d as the court noted. \u2063RITE\u2064 alleged that this even included \u201csignatures \u200don prior early ballot envelopes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This guidance, \u2064the court \u2062indicated, is contrary to state \u2062law.<\/p>\n<p>Fontes \u201cargues the definition of \u2018registration record\u2019\u200b is ambiguous \u2026 \u200cThis argument fails because there is no ambiguity in \u200cthe statute,\u201d Napper\u2019s ruling reads. \u200c\u201cPursuant to the statute,\u200c the recorder is to the signature on the envelope the voter\u2019s prior\u200d registrations (the\u2063 record). \u2026\u2062 If they match, then the vote \u2063is \u2064counted.\u200b If\u200c they \u2064do not, the voter is contacted to address any \u200dpossible concerns. There is \u200dno ambiguity in this statute or \u2062the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other \u200dwords, Fontes \u200bwas\u2062 likely instructing recorders to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boston-school-board-members-resign-after-racist-text-messages-emerge\/\" title=\"Boston School Board Members Resign After Racist Text Messages Emerge\">violate state law<\/a> by mandating ballots be counted \u200cdespite using a different signature match standard \u2062than what was legally\u2064 required.<\/p>\n<p>The court found that Arizona\u2019s EPM creates a process that \u201ccontradicts the plain language\u201d of state law by\u2062 allowing signature-match with\u2063 documents that\u2062 have \u201cnothing to do with the act\u200d of registering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTherefore, this portion of the \u200dEPM and the\u200c instruction\u200d from the Secretary do \u2018not have the force of law,&#8217;\u201d Napper concluded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRITE will\u2062 build on this victory to continue to \u200bfight in court for elections that are administered according to \u200ddemocratically \u2063enacted laws, not illegal \u2064partisan commands,\u201d RITE President Derek Lyons said\u200b in a <a href=\"https:\/\/riteusa.org\/rite-scores-important-court-victory-in-arizona-against-the-states-unlawful-signature-matching-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>. \u201cThis is\u200d a \u2064huge \u2062victory toward securing the\u200c elections\u2064 that Arizonans deserve,\u200b which are elections they can trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court \u200bhas ordered\u200c all parties \u200dand their counsel to appear\u2064 for \u2062a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/status_conference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">status conference<\/a> on Sept. \u200c19.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Shawn Fleetwood is\u200c a staff writer for The\u200d Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary \u2062Washington. He previously\u2064 served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> for Convention of \u200dStates Action and his\u200d work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth,\u2064 and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter\u2063 @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Arizona court ruled that the secretary of state&#8217;s ballot signature verification guidance lacks legal authority. Judge John Napper of Yavapai County&#8217;s Superior Court denied motions to dismiss a complaint filed by Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) against the secretary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2023275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2023274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2023274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2023275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2023274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2023274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2023274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}