PHOENIX – On Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 1 p.m. MST/AZ, Arizona elections officials, public health experts, and advocacy organizations will hold a press briefing to discuss why the Arizona governor, secretary of state, and legislature must ensure safe and secure elections this fall, including providing every registered voter with their ballot by mail, while preserving meaningful in-person voting options.
Community advocates have collected 1,000+ petition signatures to Governor Ducey and legislative leadership in support of this approach. The approach ensures secure, accessible elections with considerations to public health and safety, by implementing the following solutions:
- Mail every eligible Arizona voter a ballot
- Require safe and meaningful in-person options for people without reliable mail service, or who need accommodations or language assistance
- Ensure sufficient in-person and mail-in opportunities on tribal lands and consult meaningfully with tribal leaders before approving changes
- Extend early voting and registration deadlines
The full petition can be found here.
Without these considerations, primarily vote-by-mail systems could create barriers to voting for many historically disenfranchised groups, including eligible voters needing language assistance, voters with disabilities needing accommodations, low-income voters for whom the state lacks a current address, rural voters, Native American voters, and voters living on Tribal lands with limited access to home mail service.
WHAT:
Press briefing on safe and secure elections in Arizona
WHO:
Joel Edman, Executive Director, Arizona Advocacy Network
Richard Fimbres, Tucson City Councilmember
Patty Hansen, Coconino County Recorder
Will Humble, Executive Director, Arizona Public Health Association
Aaron Marquez, Western States Director, Vets Forward
WHEN:
Tuesday, April 28 | 1 p.m. MST/AZ
WHERE:
All Voting is Local Facebook Live via Zoom conference
RSVP/MEDIA CONTACT:
Please RSVP to [email protected]. Once your RSVP is sent, you will receive a link to join the Zoom conference.