To get the Outlaw Dirty Money Ballot Initiative on the November Ballot, 357,000 valid signatures are needed because, if passed by the voters, the election results will necessitate a change to the Arizona State Constitution.
Realistically, 400,000 signatures should probably be collected in case a portion of the signatories is declared invalid and ineligible.
The hard-working volunteers and leaders behind Outlaw Dirty Money were on pace to collect the 400,000 signatures until COVID 19 (the Coronavirus) brought the collection of all ballot initiative signatures to a standstill.
As of June 9, 2020, according to Outlaw Dirty Money Spearheader (and former Arizona Attorney General and Phoenix Mayor) Terry Goddard, there are approximately 280,000 collected signatures for the ballot measure to do away with Dark Money in our state’s political campaigns.
The deadline to submit the approximately 400,000 signatures is July 2, 2020.
Where does the Outlaw Dirty Money Ballot Initiative go from here?
Speaking with Mr. Goddard, he said, after having several large conferences with Outlaw Dirty Money stakeholders, that in light of the Coronavirus and the need to adequately social distance along with the rejection by the Arizona Supreme Court to allow the collection of electronic signatures (a decision the former Attorney General understood because it would have required “the court to rewrite the State Constitution,”) that they would no longer actively pursue gathering signatures to place the initiative on the 2020 ballot.
Putting Outlaw Dirty Money on the 2022 ballot with Signatures gathered in 2020.
Saying “the people are entitled to be heard” and wanting to “look for a reasonable alternative that protects peoples rights and health safety,” Goddard and his volunteer team wrote a letter to Governor Ducey and the leaders of the Arizona Legislature on May 29, 2020, to ask them to “allow the signatures gathered in 2020 (by May 15) to be applied (as a one-time exception) towards qualifying for the 2022 ballot.”
This letter has been signed by a bipartisan group of 1200 Arizona voters who reside in all parts of Arizona. Among the signatories is current Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.
In explaining their request to the Governor and Legislature, Mr. Goddard said:
“The people of Arizona have a constitutional right to petition their government through drafting an initiative and getting enough valid signatures to qualify it for the ballot. Because of the worldwide crisis of the pandemic and Arizona’s stay at home order, the Outlaw Dirty Money volunteers stopped all person to person signature gathering. At the time of the order, they were on track to file enough signatures to qualify for the 2020 ballot. After the stay at home order ended on May 15th, there was still a social distancing requirement in place, which made gathering signatures in person very difficult and dangerous to both the signature seekers and the general public. Our volunteers should not lose the benefit of all their hard work gathering over 280,000 signatures because of the unanticipated and totally disrupting virus attack. But more importantly, without the requested one-time exemption to allow their signatures to count toward the 2022 ballot, the constitutional rights of the volunteers who worked so hard and each of the 280,000 signers who want to vote on stopping secret political money will be thwarted to protect public health. The exemption protects our constitutional rights and the public health at the same time!”
The plan offered by Mr. Goddard and his team is reasonable, considerate, prudent, and allowable by current law.
It safeguards the safety and health of the volunteers and supporters of the Outlaw Dirt Money Ballot Initiative and provides a sensible mechanism that will allow the movement not to reinvent the wheel and start from the beginning in 2022.
Like Mr. Goddard said: “The people are entitled to be heard.”
Governor Ducey, Speaker Bowers, and Senate President Fann need to listen.
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Their website outlawdirtymoney.com needs some attention. Clicking on the Sign the Petition link brings up a Outlaw Dirty Money Depot Locations (presumably locations where the petition can be signed) page that lists nothing else. Clicking on the Contact Us link results in a Contact Encoding Error.
I would love to sign. I know electronic signatures on petitions are not acceptable but I would think they’d post petition locations & time window information when one physically can. David, can you let them know? Thanks.
Hello, they have decided for public health reasons, not to move forward.
Sorry to hear that, it’s a very worthy cause. Thanks!