A voter rights group said it will file a lawsuit challenging a campaign finance reform measure lawmakers approved in the final hours of the session.Under the new law, local candidates will see their contribution limit from private donors go up from $500 to $5,000, and statewide candidates would also get up to $5,000 compared to their current limit of $1,000. The Arizona Advocacy Network’s Sam Wercinski said the law gives politicians more power to buy elections.
“We believe it violates the voter protection act and the clean elections act. These are two citizens initiatives that were passed by the voters to protect what they thought was important and one of those was money influencing our elected officials," Wecinski said.
Wercinski said there are other election reforms lawmakers approved that will disenfranchise voters. He said one shortens the amount of time that groups have to collect petition signatures to get issues on the ballot.
Another does not start until 2015. It allows county recorders to remove people from early voting lists if they do not participate in four consecutive elections.