Protect Our Arizona v. hobbs/healthcare Rising

SUPREME COURT OF ARIZONA

PROTECT OUR ARIZONA, a political ) Arizona Supreme Court
committee, ) No. CV-22-0203-AP/EL
)
Plaintiff/Appellant, ) Maricopa County
) Superior Court
v. ) No. CV2022-009335
)
KATIE HOBBS, in her capacity as )
the Secretary of State of )
Arizona, )
)
Defendant/Appellee, )
)
ARIZONANS FED UP WITH FAILING )
HEALTHCARE (HEALTHCARE RISING AZ),)
a political committee, )
)
Real Party in Interest/Appellee. )
__________________________________) FILED 08/24/2022

DECISION ORDER

Before the Court is an expedited election appeal regarding

the Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act (Serial No. I-05-

2022), a proposed initiative for the November 8, 2022 General

Election. The Act seeks to amend certain statutes governing

interest rates on medical debt as well as a debtor’s property

exemptions.

Appellant Protect Our Arizona challenged the legal

sufficiency of the initiative, initially raising five

objections. Appellant later withdrew all but two objections.

Relevant to the appeal, Appellant argued: (1) the initiative’s
Arizona Supreme Court No. CV-22-0203 AP/EL
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98-word summary was legally insufficient because the phrase

“[d]oes not change existing law regarding secured debt” was

objectively false or misleading; and (2) certain circulators

were not properly registered because they failed to submit a new

or updated affidavit with their registration application.

After a trial and oral arguments, the superior court denied

Appellant’s remaining two objections and determined the Act

qualified to appear on the general election ballot. Appellant

timely appealed.

The Court, en banc, has considered the briefs and

authorities in the record, the superior court’s ruling, and the

relevant statutes and case law in this expedited election

matter.

The Court unanimously finds that A.R.S. § 19-118 does

require each circulator to submit a separate affidavit as one of

five required items in each registration application submitted

for each petition he or she circulates. But any circulators’

lack of compliance with § 19-118 does not invalidate the

signatures gathered by these circulators on the record and

circumstances before us.

The Circulator Portal established by the Secretary of

State’s Office (SOS), which was in operation at the time the

Governor and the Attorney General approved the 2019 Elections

Procedures Manual pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-452, by design does
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not permit the submission of more than one affidavit per

circulator. See Declaration of Kori Lorick 5. By also refusing

to accept manual submission of a hard copy affidavit, see id. at

3, the SOS rendered it impossible for circulators to

successfully submit a registration application as required by

§ 19-118 for I-05-2022 if they had already registered to

circulate other petitions.

The Court unanimously declines to find that the initiative

committee, Arizonans Fed Up with Failing Healthcare (Healthcare

Rising AZ), or any individual circulator failed to comply with

§ 19-118 when the SOS has prevented such compliance. A finding

of non-compliance and disqualification of circulator signatures

on this record and under these circumstances would “unreasonably

hinder or restrict” the exercise of the initiative power under

article 4, part 1, sections (1) and (2) of the Arizona

Constitution. Stanwitz v. Reagan, 245 Ariz. 344, 348 ¶ 14

(2018), as amended (Nov. 27, 2018) (citation omitted) (internal

quotation marks omitted). Therefore, signatures collected by

such circulators in connection with I-05-2022 are not subject to

disqualification.

We have every expectation that the SOS will remedy

deficiencies in the submission of information through the

Circulator Portal and accommodate the manual submission of

required information in the interim. However, if an initiative
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committee seeks to submit the information required pursuant to

§ 19-118 and the SOS refuses to accept it, an aggrieved party

should seek special action relief.

The Court further unanimously finds the summary is

sufficient and alerted a reasonable person to the principal

provisions’ general objectives. See Molera v. Hobbs, 250 Ariz.

20 (2020). The summary, when read as a whole, is not

objectively false or misleading.

IT IS ORDERED affirming the superior court’s judgment.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED denying the parties’ requests for

attorney fees as there is no prevailing party. See § 19-118(F).

A written Opinion detailing the Court’s reasoning will

follow in due course.

DATED this 24th day of August, 2022.

_______/s/____________________
ROBERT BRUTINEL
Chief Justice
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TO:
Thomas J Basile
Kory A Langhofer
Amy B Chan
Noah Gabrielsen
James E Barton II
Jacqueline Soto
Joshua David Rothenberg Bendor
Joshua J. Messer
Travis Charles Hunt
Annabel Barraza
Hon. Frank W Moskowitz
Alberto Rodriguez
Hon. Jeff Fine
Christina Sandefur
Timothy Sandefur
Daniel J Adelman
Samuel Schnarch
Patrick J Kane
Roy Herrera
Daniel A Arellano
Timothy A LaSota
Dominic Emil Draye