Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project, released the following statement:
“The law is clear: the Arizona Administrative Procedures Act requires at least 30 days for public comment on administrative actions, and Arizona’s Election Procedures Manual falls under this statute. Secretary of State Fontes can’t make up election rules as he goes along and circumvent the state legislature just because he finds the law inconvenient – he must go through the rule making process like any other state agency. This is not some exceptional notion. It is common for states to require their agencies to inform the public when they are going to issue rules and solicit public opinion. The Arizona Supreme Court should affirm the Arizona Court of Appeals’ decision to protect the public’s role in the formulation of election rules.”
A digital copy of the amicus brief can be found here.
