Prepare for an Arizona political showdown! A heated contest between a Republican state senator and a Democratic governor is intensifying the forthcoming elections. Keep checking for updates.
The recent assertion by Senator Sonny Borrelli that Arizona counties might be barred from using vote-counting machines under a non-binding resolution was swiftly refuted by state authorities, election officials, and county leaders. The senator’s claim was rejected by these authorities in a unanimous vote because it was false and went against state law. The incident was covered by the Arizona Mirror.
“Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli penned a letter to all 15 Arizona counties on Monday, telling them that they were barred from using any machines to administer future elections,” the report continued. “He claimed that the legislature’s recent approval of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037 was binding under a radical interpretation of a constitutional provision that would effectively allow state legislatures to do whatever they want with elections.”
According to the “plenary powers” view, lawmakers are unrestricted in their ability to alter election procedures as they see fit, free from the influence of the executive or judicial departments. This point of view depicts unfettered decision-making without any protections against changes to election laws.
“In this case, Borrelli claimed that, even though Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed actual legislation that would have changed state law to ban all election machines used in Arizona, a change in the law isn’t needed to bar those machines because of SCR1037,” further mentioned in the study.
The resolution essentially expresses the legislators’ opinions and has no legal significance. In essence, it states that voting devices should only be manufactured in the United States and should have a “open source” design. Additionally, the resolution expressly forbids the use of any electronic machinery for tabulating, counting, or recording votes in the state, as well as restricts the use of a few authorized devices.
The concept that a resolution might supersede Arizona state law, which permits voting machines but imposes stringent rules on their usage and specifications, was vigorously opposed by state and county authorities.
“Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037, which expresses a desire to restrict the use of certain electronic voting machines, is non-binding and does not have the force of law,” Adrian Fontes, the secretary of state, made a statement on Twitter. “If those requirements or certification process were to be changed, it would require a regular bill to be passed by the legislature and signed by the governor—which is not the case for this non-binding resolution. We defer to the AG’s office on all other legal questions.”
According to Arizona law, election equipment must be certified by local, state, and federal officials; however, a recent resolution seeks to omit this step. Learn how this may affect upcoming elections.
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“The attorney general agrees with (Fontes’) legal assessment on the matter,” The Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes’ spokeswoman, Richie Taylor, told the Arizona Mirror. “The SCR is non-binding and has no legal impact. We have not formulated any official opinion on the senator’s letter.”
According to Borrelli’s letter, Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution mandates that state lawmakers have the authority to alter election procedures. According to the Arizona Mirror, this legal theory, which is based on the “plenary power” of state legislatures, has gained support from some right-wing organizations and has been supported by attorneys like John Eastman.
“Eastman was one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers who, in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 riot, lobbied the legal counsel for former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the election using ‘plenary authorities,’” the outlet added.
