Goldwater Challenges Signatures of Anti-School Choice Measure

Today, the Goldwater Institute filed suit challenging the validity of the signatures submitted for the destructive and misleadingly titled “Protect Education, Accountability Now Act.”

The measure, which seeks to remove tens of thousands of Arizona families from the state’s Empowerment Scholarship (ESA) Program, needed to submit 255,949 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. However, it seems that a large amount of the signatures submitted are fallacious, thereby disqualifying the measure from appearing in the November election.

Arizona’s thriving ESA program, which has rigorous guardrails to prevent misspending, has allowed over 100,000 families to choose the educational option that best suits their child’s needs. The deceptively titled “Protect Education Accountability Act” seeks to restrict the educational freedoms of Arizona families and lock children into failing government-run schools in perpetuity.

“Once again, we are reminded how little these out of state unions care about Arizona students and their parents,” said former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. “This measure would strip tens of thousands of Arizona families of educational choices they have made for their children, forcing students out of the schools that are serving them well and back into schools they chose to leave. That is unacceptable, and we will vigorously challenge this measure at every possible step.”

Despite attempting to portray itself as a grassroot initiative, over 75% of the signatures submitted were from paid circulators, not volunteers.  It is yet another example of a Washington, D.C., special interest group spending millions of dollars to buy its way onto Arizona’s ballot, implementing reckless and ill-conceived policies that real Arizonans will suffer from.

“This is a shameless attack on Arizona’s parents, funded by an out of state union,” said Victor Riches, President and CEO of the Goldwater Institute.  “They’re trying to game the system by turning in tens of thousands of invalid signatures in an effort to destroy the most successful school choice program in the country.  This won’t happen on our watch.”

It is critical to ensure integrity in Arizona’s elections.  Arizonans deserve better than to have out-of-state special interests spending millions of dollars on a ballot measure that appears to have relied heavily on invalid signatures.

The Goldwater Institute is proud to defend the rights of Arizona families and students from reckless attacks on their educational freedoms.

Read the Goldwater Institute’s complaint here.