Green Party Senate Candidate in Arizona Publicly Accuses 'AZ Clean Elections' of Election Interference
The candidate wants to debate Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake in October, but is not recognized by the commission...
Eduardo Quintana (G), the recent Arizona Green Party candidate barred from debating his Republican and Democratic opponents, has issued a statement publicly accusing the ‘AZ Clean Elections Commission’ of election interference, for an alleged ‘illegal rule’ that effectively prevented him from participating in an upcoming debate.
To qualify as a “candidate” according to the commission, Quintana would have needed around 12K votes in July’s primary election (1% of the total vote); the Arizona Green Party only has around 3K registered party members. All this despite the fact that he is legally on the ballot according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Quintana’s Full Statement:
“Attention Director Collins and Director Kline:
The mission statement of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) reads “to improve integrity of Arizona state government” and “to promote public confidence in the Arizona political process.” The exclusion of written ballot candidates from AZCCEC-sponsored televised debates violates your own mission statement, your own rules prescribed for Candidate Debates as well as more than 20 years of established precedent.
AZCCE is a public entity while Arizona Media Association (AMA) is a private entity. The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission surrendered their responsibility to the citizens of Arizona by abdicating to the Arizona Media Association which has no such obligations.
What part of the rules for candidate debates from AZCCEC specifies this phony, arbitrary and fraudulent 1% rule which the commission made up in January then promptly filed away only to be discovered by the media recently?
Where is the AMA granted the authority to decide who can and cannot be on the debate stage?
Why are both organizations interfering with the election by suppressing democracy and actively discouraging voter participation? The AZCCEC, supposedly non-partisan, put its thumb on the scale in favor of the Democrat and Republican candidates and denied the democratic rights of 4.5 million Arizona voters including 63,000 petition signers who put the Green Party on the ballot.
Your election interference is suppressing the voice of the Green Party and constitutes an attack on the democratic rights of all Arizona citizens.
Statewide Green Party candidates Eduardo Quintana, Nina Luxenberg and Mike Cease have been wrongly excluded from your fraudulent debates. They and the Arizona Green Party are currently filing formal complaints with the Election Integrity Unit of the office of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Sincerely,
Eduardo Quintana”
