The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the secretary of state does not have to follow a law governing how state agencies make rules when he creates a biennial rule book for local election officials.
The decision overturned an Arizona Court of Appeals ruling that sided with the Arizona Republican Party, Republican National Committee and Yavapai County Republican Party, who filed a lawsuit claiming Secretary of State Adrian Fontes should have complied with the Arizona Administrative Procedures Act when he crafted the 2023 Election Procedures Manual.
Fontes praised the decision, saying that prior secretaries of state have always interpreted the APA and laws governing the Elections Procedures Manual as separate.
“I am relieved and gratified by today’s decision,” Fontes said in a statement. “The rule of law has prevailed. The Court’s unanimous order confirms what every Secretary of State, Republican and Democrat alike, has always understood: the Legislature created a distinct process for adopting the Elections Procedures Manual, and that process stands apart from the Administrative Procedures Act.”
The act includes rules state agencies must follow when crafting new regulations, including describing why they are necessary and allowing for public comment.
The appeals court had overturned an earlier trial court decision that found the manual was not subject to the APA.
In a brief ruling signed by Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, the state Supreme Court also found the manual was not subject to the APA.
The justice sent the case back to the appeals court to consider separate arguments by the Republican groups challenging eight specific provisions in the 2023 manual.
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The conservative legal group accused Fontes of trying to mislead voters about Proposition 144, a Republican election-reform ballot measure.
