Arizona's Clean Elections system is like the Grand Canyon or the smell of creosote after a monsoon rain - it's distinctly Arizonan and a source of pride.
When Arizona's voters created Clean Elections back in 1998, we changed our state's politics for the better, empowering ordinary Arizonans to run for office and promoting transparency and confidence in our elections.
The Clean Elections Act created a bipartisan Commission empowered to enforce the law, so that powerful corporate interests would have to adhere to the same rules of the road as everyone else. Of course, those interests have been scheming to end Clean Elections ever since.
Last year, they saw one of their biggest victories in that crusade, with the passage of a new law that opened the door to virtually unlimited secret corporate political spending, and that attempted to handcuff the Clean Elections Commission from enforcing the Clean Elections Act.
That's why we're suing. Read the complaint here and then make a donation to support our work protecting Clean Elections.
Of course, Clean Elections' opponents didn't bother to follow any of the constitutionally-required processes to change it. Instead, they passed a bill over bipartisan opposition and with the smallest possible majority of 31 votes in the House. In doing so, they broke the law.
Arizona's voters passed the Voter Protection Act to stop politicians from undoing the laws we've passed at the ballot box. That protection is especially vital for reforms like Clean Elections that restore power to the people, and that will never be popular among the powerful.
We'll have more information on our website as the case develops. In the meantime, we hope you'll consider supporting our work with a donation.