Judge says new voting rulebook meets Arizona law, dismisses suit from national Republicans

A judge has ruled against the Republican National Committee in a lawsuit that challenged Arizona's new voting rulebook and alleged it would allow election fraud.

The suit, filed in February, is one of several from Republicans questioning the state's new Elections Procedures Manual. That document serves as a guide to election management for county officials statewide and is produced every election cycle by the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, which is currently run by Adrian Fontes, a Democrat.

Republicans plaintiffs said the new rulebook would weaken safeguards against non-citizen voting and undermine recent election integrity laws. They also accused Fontes of creating an "artificially short period for public comment."

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz said Friday that the new guidebook "does not contradict or directly conflict" with existing state statute. He also dismissed claims that Fontes improperly limited public input on the new voting rules, noting the Secretary of State's Office received "a substantial amount of public comment."

"There is a primary election coming up in July and the general election in November," Moskowitz wrote in his order. "Yet, plaintiffs ask this court to order that those elections be governed by the 2019 EPM, which... also contains several of the same provisions complained about below and does not address subsequent changes in state and federal election laws."

JP Martin, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office, said the ruling confirms the new guidebook "meets Arizona's statutory requirements."

"We used this manual to effectively run the presidential preference election in March and will continue using the EPM to ensure fair elections in the upcoming primary and general," Martin said.

An attorney representing the Republican National Committee didn't immediately respond to The Arizona Republic's request for comment.

Case one of several challenging new election rulebook

The state's once-obscure elections guidebook has emerged as a political battleground heading into the 2024 presidential election.

Several lawsuits, all from conservatives, allege issues ranging from loose voter registration standards to First Amendment violations.

Republicans have framed the legal challenges as part of a slew of efforts to uphold election integrity in Arizona. Democrats have criticized the lawsuits as the latest assault from those aligned with former President Donald Trump.

A complaint from the Republican leaders of the Arizona Legislature argues Fontes overstepped his authority and used the manual to create policy, rather than interpret it. They specifically take aim at a provision that says statewide vote certification must proceed as scheduled and cannot count the votes of any county that doesn't return its canvass within the required time period.

The GOP lawmakers say only the courts can decide whether to disregard a county's votes. That debate comes after two Cochise County supervisors, both Republicans, refused to certify the results of the 2022 election.

Another suit, from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, says certain provisions of the manual limiting ballot drop box monitors are unconstitutional. It comes after ballot drop boxes in Maricopa and Yavapai counties were monitored by various groups and individuals in 2022, some of them carrying weapons and wearing masks.

Past voting rulebooks have also faced legal sparring. In 2021, Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich refused to sign off on a guidebook drafted by then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat. Hobbs signed off on some of Brnovich's changes, but not all. The two went to court, where Brnovich lost his battle to force Hobbs to incorporate all of his edits.

Republic reporter Ray Stern contributed to this story.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Judge dismisses AZ election lawsuit from Republican National Committee