The Arizona Free Enterprise Club along with “Kochtopus” organizations the Goldwater Institute and Americans For Prosperity, and Arizonans for Free Speech [i.e., corporate money = speech] and the Center For Arizona Policy have filed a legal challenge to the Stop Dark Money initiative.
From Terry Goddard’s email message:
Stop Dark Money filed over 390,000 petition signatures with the Secretary of State. We only needed 237,645 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. This accomplishment was fueled by an unparalleled volunteer effort.
Many thanks for your support.
This week, Stop Dark Money passed another step to qualifying for the ballot when the Secretary of State’s office completed the initial review of our signatures and determined we had 355,726 signatures. .
The next step in the process is for each County Recorder in Arizona to check a 5% random sample of our signatures. If only roughly 2 out of every 3 signatures are valid we have enough to qualify for the ballot. I am confident we will pass this test.
Unfortunately – as we knew they would – our opponents have filed a legal challenge against Stop Dark Money. The lawsuit was filed by Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Goldwater Institute and (of course) Americans for Prosperity. They are alleging that our paid signature gathers did not properly register with the Secretary of State. We dispute their allegations.
Stop Dark Money is getting ready to fight our opponent’s baseless claims at the courthouse. Truth be told, the campaign spent almost every nickle in July collecting the final signatures. We need your help to fund our legal battle to keep Stop Dark Money on the November ballot. Can you contribute $25, $50 or $100 today?
We will keep you updated as Stop Dark Money moves closer to qualifying for the November ballot.
Maricopa County Superior Court (Downtown)
Assigned to: Judge Joseph Mikitish
Evidentiary Hearing Date: Friday, August 12, at 8:30 a.m.
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