Arizona Judge Ruling Protects Identity of Election Workers
A judge in the Maricopa Superior Court in Arizona ruled on Thursday that the office of the county’s recorder doesn’t have to disclose the names of low level election workers to the public.
The ruling stems from a records request lawsuit filed in 2022 by the right-wing group We the People AZ Alliance, who sought the names of election workers that performed signature verification in the 2020 election. We the People AZ Alliance alleged that some of the election workers “moved through their verifications at an unbelievably rapid pace and others confirmed 100% of their verifications” of ballot signatures, which the group thought was “highly improbable,” according to the ruling.
The records request was denied by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who said granting such a request could expose election workers to threats and harassment, which would have a negative impact on the hiring and retention of election workers, according to reporting from KJZZ. Richer, along with Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett and former Assistant Director Kristi Passarelli, testified that they and some of their colleagues have faced an increase in threats in recent years because of election-related conspiracy theories.
We the People AZ Alliance has a history of both spreading election conspiracy theories and making threats to public officials. In April of 2023, Shelby Busch, an RNC delegation chair and member of We the People AZ Alliance, testified in an Arizona Senate Elections Committee hearing for a bill that would allow both Republican and Democratic observers to watch every stage of the state’s signature. During her presentation, according to the Arizona Mirror, Busch presented false claims of mismatching signatures in the 2020 election.
In June, Busch was in the news again when a video surfaced of her speaking at a GOP event, where she threatened Richer. “If Stephen Richer were in this room, I would lynch him,” Busch said. “I don’t unify with people who don’t believe in the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country.”
Richer, a Republican, has been a frequent target of harassment and vitriol from Arizona’s far-right contingent for defending the state’s election process against false claims of a stolen election. He lost his primary campaign for reelection as the Maricopa County Recorder in July to State Rep. Justin Heap, who was endorsed by a number of election deniers, including failed gubernatorial candidate, and current U.S. Senate candidate, Kari Lake.
In his ruling on Thursday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney wrote that the plaintiffs “established in this case legitimate security concerns about public disclosure of the identities of lower level and non-managerial employees.” He also noted that “the threats and harassment that these employees face are both alarming and pervasive” and that Richer “has a legitimate concern about the chilling effect that the threats and harassment have on the Recorder’s Office’s ability to recruit and retain employees.”