More on SB 1070 and Open Elections Act

August 22, 2012

KJZZ’s Jude Joffe-Block explains the most controversial provision of SB 1070 and debates around the provision. Jim Small, editor at Arizona Capitol Times, explains why the Open Elections/Open Government Act didn’t get on the ballot.

Joffe-Block says the suit is from a coalition of civil rights group who questions whether provisions violate a person’s civil rights. The current provision in question, referred to as the “show me your papers” provision, would require law enforcement to check the immigration status of people they believe may be in the country illegally. Joffe-Block says that the Judge Susan Bolton questions whether the U.S. Supreme Court even left her room to block the law at this stage.

Small says guidelines regarding the validity of the signatures gathered for the Open Elections Act did not meet standards. Despite gathering around 400,000 signatures, the act didn’t have the requisite 260,000 valid signatures from that batch. Small says that in recent years there have been high invalidity rate because there’s a lack of structure among people who are paid to gather signatures.