Seven months after the conclusion of the 2020 election, a considerable number of people are still expressing uncertainty about the integrity of the process. While the media and those on the Left prefer to demonize such concerns as conspiratorial and irrelevant, we must address these issues as they stand in the way of full faith and trust in our elections, the very bedrock of our constitutional republic.
It is true that certain members of both parties, after every major election, seem to decry the process and systems. In fact, House Democrats have raised objections to state electoral votes the last three times a Republican has been elected president. Many remember how, in 2017, House Democrats objected to the election results in nine states won by former President Donald Trump. One consistent observation, however, is that Democrats work year after year to change election rules, while Republicans largely acquiesce to these maneuvers until they threaten to undermine the security of the election.
In the midst of a deadly pandemic, Democrats feverishly worked across the nation to change election processes through edicts from governors, election officials, mayors, and the courts with little to no input from state legislatures that are constitutionally operational for this very purpose. In Arizona, one of the battlegrounds in the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Party and aligned special-interest groups did their best to bypass the rule of law and rework the election procedures, claiming it was necessary to make it easier for people to vote. When no other statewide or county official stood up against these efforts, my office stepped in to defend Arizona’s election integrity laws at least six times.
Earlier this spring, I argued at the U.S. Supreme Court in Brnovich v. DNC to protect Arizona’s commonsense protections against ballot-harvesting and out-of-precinct voting. We obtained a stay of the mandate from the 9th Circuit to keep the laws intact for the last election cycle, but now, the justices will rule on whether states can pass and maintain laws such as these commonsense election integrity measures. This case will have monumental implications across this country.
Another strategy of the Left involved filing lawsuits against each other. Instead of defending existing laws in court, the parties would “sue and settle.” My office intervened on behalf of the state of Arizona in Arizonans for Fair Elections v. Hobbs and Second Chances v. Hobbs (two cases attempting to circumvent our state constitution’s in-person signature requirement for initiatives), Miracle v. Hobbs (requiring petition circulators to appear in court when subpoenaed), and Arizona Democratic Party v. Hobbs (dealing with unsigned ballot-curing). We also took action against the Maricopa County recorder in State v. Fontes, obtaining a restraining order preventing then-Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes from illegally mailing out thousands of ballots within days of the presidential preference election.
These cases for Arizona in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential contest demonstrated how important it is for states to take proactive measures to uphold the rule of law before an election. Especially during this time of uncertainty and partisan polarization, it is essential for all public officials to avoid even the appearance that they are changing the rules in the middle of the game. Any necessary changes to election laws should be made by the state’s Legislature, with as much notice as possible.
Unfortunately, Democratic activists have wasted no time in trying to nationalize elections with a bill that would subvert states’ abilities to maintain the integrity of their elections and impede traditional notions of federalism by eradicating virtually all state control of the time, place, and manner of federal elections. These radical actions remind us that state and county officials must never take a rest from their duty to defend election integrity. All sides must play by the rules.
As people seek answers and full transparency about the 2020 election, this is also a crucial time to remind Washington that the states created the federal government and not the other way around. The very foundation of our nation rests on the notion that our government is derived from the consent of the governed. In Arizona, we have laws that allow voters ample opportunity to vote, free from intimidation, while preventing disenfranchisement and fraud. Let’s keep it that way.
Mark Brnovich is Arizona’s attorney general.
