New copper dome atop Arizona Capitol
By Mary Jo Pitzl | Arizona Republic
Shamed by angry grassroots activists, Republican lawmakers at the Arizona Capitol have spent the past week trying to undo part of a voting bill they rushed into law with unanimous support.
Their first attempt failed, and hopes for a quick fix are getting dashed by Democrats, who see no need to lend their votes to help Republicans rebuild trust with voters from the GOP’s grassroots base.
This week, the effort — which addresses how political parties pick precinct committee members — will resume amid threats toward Democrats if they don’t go along with a hasty fix.
At issue is a bill lawmakers passed in lightning-quick fashion March 3, only to see a portion of it draw fire from angry and distrustful grassroots activists. The contentious portion of House Bill 2839 eliminates the election of precinct committee members for 2022 and instead allows party officials to appoint them.
The intent was to ensure that new political precincts — the result of new political maps drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission — would have representation from people who live in the new territory. But given the late arrival of the redistricting maps, many county recorders were still working to draw the new precinct boundaries, imperiling the ability of potential precinct committee members to meet an April 4 deadline to qualify for the August primary ballot.
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The solution was to allow party officials to appoint the PCs, as they are known by insiders, but have them considered “elected.” That would allow them to carry out all the normal PC duties, such as voting for party officials from the district to the state level.
The bill sailed through the Legislature on a rare unanimous vote with no debate and was immediately signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey.
