CREW submits amicus brief in support of Arizona’s Voter’s Right to Know Act

CREW submitted an amicus brief in support of Arizona’s Voter’s Right to Know Act which was passed in 2022 to combat corrupt elections and strengthen the state’s disclosure rules. Two Koch-aligned dark money groups are now challenging this law in federal court, so they can continue to spend large amounts of money and keep secretly buying elections. Their argument relies on the belief that states are limited to federal law’s approach to disclosure, ignoring that the Constitution recognizes disclosure as a compelling interest, and permits states to enact measures actually capable of achieving it.

CREW’s amicus brief urges the 9th Circuit to dismiss the motion brought by these Koch-aligned groups. CREW’s amicus clarifies the scope of federal laws, which the challengers understate, yet notes that those laws are still inadequate. Dark money backers take advantage of loopholes within the law, allowing them to launder funds and keep Americans in the dark. Every two years, billions of dollars in dark money are spent on elections, with the 2024 cycle bringing in the most yet. The Constitution does not condemn states to repeat these mistakes. Rather, state laws like the Voter’s Right to Know Act can go a long way in avoiding these loopholes to bring real transparency to state elections. 

If the Koch-aligned groups succeed in getting the state to peel back the Voters’ Right to Know Act, it could cause irreparable and unconstitutional harm to Arizonans. The information disclosed by this legislation is essential to Americans’ ability to monitor for corruption. This kind of information disclosed makes its disclosure a ripe target for censorship. The First Amendment, however, does not compel censorship and it does not stand in the way of disclosure. Rather, it serves as a bulwark against those who, like the challengers, try to suppress speech that seeks to hold those in power to account. 

Photo of hundred dollar bills by Ervins Strauhmanis under Creative Commons license