By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
Officials of two organizations known for anonymous spending on political campaigns filed suit late Thursday to keep Arizonans from voting on a measure that would make the practice illegal.
The lawsuit charges that some of the paid circulators for the “Stop Dirty Money” campaign did not register ahead of time with the Secretary of State’s Office as required by law. It says out-of-state residents who were carrying petitions also failed to register.
In the lawsuit, attorney Kory Langhofer claimed several other violations of initiative requirements, including that some circulators were convicted felons who had not had their civil rights restored. That makes them ineligible to gather signatures, he said.
Among the plaintiffs are Scot Mussi, executive director of the Free Enterprise Club, and Andrew Clark, state director of Americans for Prosperity. Both organizations have made repeated expenditures in Arizona elections to support candidates of their choice and to oppose others.
Both say their groups do not have to disclose their donors. That is based on their status under the federal tax code as “social welfare organizations” permitted to spend up to half their revenues on elections without being considered campaign committees.
