Senate Government Committee Calls on Clean Elections Commission to Comply with State Law on Rule Change for General Election Debates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Senate Government Committee Calls on Clean Elections Commission to Comply with State Law on Rule Change for General Election Debates

PHOENIX, ARIZONA— In an effort to protect against voter disenfranchisement, Senator Jake Hoffman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Government, is calling on the Clean Elections Commission to comply with state law after it illegally enacted a rule blocking certain qualified Arizona candidates from participating in general election debates for statewide and federal offices.

The Senate Government Committee has purview over application of agency rulemaking and its compliance with statute. Accordingly, Chairman Hoffman sent a letter last month to the Clean Elections Commission laying out the violation of state law when the Commission adopted a rule this year requiring candidates to receive at least 1% of total ballots cast in all primaries for their office to qualify for general election debates. The rule creates an outright ban against some political parties' candidates from ever being eligible to participate in general election debates.

After a thorough review of the process in which the rule was adopted, and a response provided by the Commission's Executive Director, it's been determined the rule was not submitted for approval to the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (GRRC) for compliance with the Arizona Administrative Procedures Act (APA). This maneuver violates the 2018 voter-approved Proposition 306.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the Commission, Chairman Hoffman shines a light on the unlawful government overreach displayed by the agency when it acted outside of its scope of authority by attempting to create legislative policy excluding candidates from participating in public debates. To remedy the violation, Chairman Hoffman is calling on the Commission to submit the rule through the standard rule-making process and to invite all qualified candidates to general election debates until any new rules are appropriately adopted in a transparent and lawful manner.

"Arizona law only gives the Commission discretion to determine the manner in which debates are conducted. It does not give the Commission unfettered discretion to pick and choose which candidates get to participate," said Chairman Hoffman. "If the Commission believes this rule is a good idea, then there should be nothing to fear from holding an open and public process for promulgating rules. Evading this process invites litigation, calls into question the independence of the Commission, and deprives Arizona citizens of the protections afforded under the APA."

As part of the investigation being conducted on this matter, Chairman Hoffman submitted a public records request to the Commission on September 19 in an effort to gain more insight and data points relating to the circumstances surrounding the rule change. So far, fulfillment of this request is still pending.

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov