The Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee will hear SB 1091 on June 15, Monday, at 1:30 pm, in Senate Hearing Room One. SB 1091 is the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill. The Secretary of State will suggest an amendment to the bill at that hearing that would make it legal for out-of-state circulators to circulate an independent presidential candidate’s petition. But, the state would continue to bar out-of-state circulators for all other types of petition, such as petitions to qualify a previously unqualified party.
I thought that the out-of-state petition circulator ban was thrown out in Arizona for all types of petitions. What’s going on with this?
It was. The Secretary of State is not being wise. Nader v Brewer invalidated the out-of-state circulator law on the basis that the state’s worries about fraud committed by out-of-state circulators can be relieved by requiring such circulators to promise to accept being subpoened. The legal analysis gives no support for the idea that out-of-state circulators for just one particular type of petition may be unconstitutional, yet other types are constitutional. This is clear on pages 1037-1038 of the decision. The analysis doesn’t deal with what type of petition is involved.