June 8, 2021 Senator Kyrsten Sinema 317 Hart Senate Office Building
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Reginald Bolding, Jr. Rebecca Rios House Democratic Leader Senate Democratic Leader State Representative, LD 27 State Senator, LD 27 Jennifer Longdon Lupe Contreras House Democratic Assistant Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Leader State Representative, LD 24 State Senator, LD 19 Domingo DeGrazia Martín Quezada House Democratic Whip Senate Democratic Co-Whip State Representative, LD 10 State Senator, LD 29 A R I Z O N A S T A T E L EGISLATURE Victoria Steele 1700 W E S T W ASHINGTON Senate Democratic Co-Whip P HOENIX , A R I Z O N A 8 5 0 0 7 State Senator, LD 9 June 8, 2021 Senator Kyrsten Sinema 317 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Sinema, The 2020 general election saw record-breaking levels of voter participation across the country. But instead of celebrating this historic achievement, our freedom to vote is being threatened in state legislatures throughout the country. Since January 1, 2021, Republican state legislators have introduced more than 350 bills in 47 states to create new barriers for voters by reducing voting hours, reducing mail-in balloting, and increasing already stringent voter ID requirements. Despite the fact that Arizona’s election system has long served as a national model, our State Legislature has introduced more than 23 voter suppression bills and some of these measures have become law. On May 11, 2021, Governor Ducey signed S.B.1485 which effectively ends the popular Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL) and purges up to 200,000 voters from the vote-by-mail list. This will disproportionately impact young voters, low-income voters, and voters of color. Additionally, the governor signed S.B. 1103 which makes it harder to cure ballots of non-English speaking voters, including voters from the Navajo Nation. At the same time, in 2020, over $1 billion of untraceable “dark money” and super PAC contributions went to candidates running for public office. Such spending empowers corporations and wealthy individuals to exercise undue influence on our political process with little or no accountability. Even record participation by small dollar donors in the last two election cycles has been dwarfed by donations of over $100,000. As you know, there is a solution. The “For the People Act” (H.R. 1/S. 1) will improve voter access, promote election integrity, require independent redistricting commissions, guarantee disclosure of dark money donors, and strengthen the oversight powers of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). We thank you for cosponsoring the “For the People Act.” But more leadership is necessary. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “For the People Act” on March 3, 2021. Given Republican obstruction, however, the bill will die in the U.S. Senate unless members are willing to work outside the box. We call on you to do everything necessary, up to and including reforming the filibuster, to pass the “For the People Act.” Our democracy is too important to be sacrificed at the altar of archaic and anti-democratic Senate procedures such as the filibuster. As fellow Arizona legislators we are calling upon you with respect and urgency to stand up in this crucial moment for our state and for our country and to make the promise of our democracy real for us all. Sincerely, _________________________ _________________________ Reginald Bolding, Jr Rebecca Rios House Democratic Leader, LD 27 Senate Democratic Leader, LD 27 _________________________ _________________________ Jennifer Longdon Lupe Contreras House Democratic Assistant Leader, LD 24 Senate Democratic Assistant Leader, LD 19 _________________________ _________________________ Domingo DeGrazia Martín Quezada Senate Democratic Co-Whip, LD 29 Democratic Whip, LD 10 _________________________ _________________________ Victoria Steele Athena Salman Senate Democratic Co-Whip, LD 9 LD 26 _________________________ _________________________ Melody Hernandez Charlene Fernandez LD 26 LD 4 _________________________ _________________________ Jennifer Jermaine Diego Rodriguez LD 18 LD 27 _________________________ _________________________ Raquel Terán Andrés Cano LD 30 LD 3 _________________________ _________________________ Myron Tsosie Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren LD 7 LD 7 _________________________ _________________________ Judy Schwiebert Stephanie Stahl Hamilton LD 20 LD 10 _________________________ _________________________ Mitzi Epstein Richard Andrade LD 18 LD 29 _________________________ _________________________ Andrea Dalessandro Pamela Powers-Hannley LD 2 LD 9 __ _______________________ _ ________________________ Jennifer Pawlik Randall Friese LD 17 LD 9 _________________________ ____ _____________________ Robert Meza Lorenzo Sierra LD 30 LD 19 _________________________ Kelli Butler LD 28 _________________________ _________________________ Lela Alston Rosanna Gabaldón LD 24 LD 2 _________________________ _________________________ Jamescita Peshlakai Juan Mendez LD 7 LD 26 _________________________ __ _______________________ Tony Navarrete Sally Ann Gonzales LD 30 LD 3 _________________________ _________________________ Lisa Otondo Kirsten Engel LD 4 LD _________________________ Christine Marsh LD 28 .