BY CAITLIN SIEVERS | AZ MIRROR
Republican legislators won a small victory in their attempt to overturn a voter-approved measure that bars anonymous “dark money” in Arizona campaigns, but an appellate court ruled that the bulk of the law passes constitutional muster and can be enforced in the 2024 elections.
A three-judge panel on the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled to uphold the majority of the Voters’ Right to Know Act, which voters overwhelmingly passed in 2022. However, it concluded that a provision in the law that bars the legislature — which Republicans narrowly control — from limiting the Citizens Clean Elections Commission from enforcing the “dark money” disclosure provisions is unconstitutional.
More than 70% of Arizona voters in 2022 cast their ballot in favor of Proposition 211, also known as the Voters’ Right to Know Act. The law aims to eliminate dark money election spending by requiring political committees that spend at least $50,000 in statewide or legislative campaigns reveal the identities of individual contributors who give more than $5,000. Individuals who give $2,500 or more to a committee spending at least $25,000 in local elections would also have to disclose their names, mailing addresses and employers.
Since the voters approved it, numerous court challenges to its validity have failed, but the appeals court on Thursday issued a ruling partially in favor of House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen, who challenged the act on behalf of the legislature.
