The Arizona Advocacy Network works to
strengthen democracy at the local, state and federal levels. Among the
issues we champion are:
Fighting for Fair Processes & Proportionate Representation: Fair
and independent redistricting; clean money elections; protecting
initiative & referendum; legislative reform; ranked choice voting;
fusion voting; non-partisan election administration; fair
implementation of national popular vote.
Promoting Informed Voting and Advocacy: Government
transparency and access to public documents; ballot measure education;
internet neutrality; reinstatement of the fairness doctrine; candidate
access to public airwaves.
Promoting Civc Participation for All: Ending
barriers to voting including voter ID litigation; felon
re-enfranchisement; same-day-registration; engaging under-represented
groups in civic participation.
Counting Every Vote: Ensuring
verifiable paper trails for all votes; secure chain of custody of
votes; random audits to prevent and detect election fraud.
Protecting Access to an Independent Judiciary: Keeping
the courtroom doors open for all; promoting and protecting merit
selection of judges; protecting access to fair and just compensation
for injury due to negligent or competent care.
Election Reform The 2004 and 2008 elections
have shown that election reform is needed. Many of the problems from
the 2000 presidential election remain including people being turned
away at the polls and improperly trained poll workers. The Help America
Vote Act of 2002 was designed to address these issues however further
reform is needed.
Meet retired school teacher Shirley Freeda Preiss. She is pictured here holding a copy of the U.S. Constitution. Shirley was born in Clinton, Kentucky in 1910 and never had a birth certificate. She never traveled outside of the U.S. so she never needed a passport. But lacking a birth certificate or any of the other documents required by the state of Arizona to prove citizenship, she is barred from registering to vote.
Protecting the Right to Vote: AzAN Challenges Arizona's Institutionalized Voting Barriers
Prop 200 In
2005 AzAN brought together a coalition to initiate a federal lawsuit
seeking to overturn voting barriers enacted with the 2004
anti-immigrant ballot measure known as Prop. 200. The law required that
Arizonans present documentary proof-of-citizenship in order to register
to vote and documentary proof-of-identity (one photo ID or two
non-photo IDs) if they wish to vote at the polls. For those who vote
early or by mail, a signature suffices as proof -of-identity. These
requirements have already barred tens of thousands of citizens from
exercising their most basic right in a democracy, the right to vote.
Read more.
Arizona's Shame: A Long History of Denying Citizens the Right to Vote When
Native American soldiers returned home to Arizona after World War II,
they learned that although their country gladly accepted their service,
they were still barred from voting. It wasn't until 1948 that the
Arizona Supreme Court overturned prior court rulings and the right to
vote was extended to Native Americans. Read more.
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