Poder Latinx Promises to Keep Fighting Against Voter Suppression Bills and Unprecedented Audits

PHOENIX – The Arizona State Senate voted down a controversial bill yesterday that could have removed thousands of voters from the state’s permanent early ballot mailing list. Poder Latinx members and volunteers made more than 45,000 calls in Maricopa County, connecting voters directly to the Governor’s office or their legislator to voice concerns that these bills encouraged voter suppression. 

Republicans have promised to take up the SB 1485 bill again after the conclusion of a Republican-led audit and hand recount of the 2020 general election results in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county and home of one of the largest Latinx communities in the state. The audit was awarded to Cyber Ninjas, a small Florida firm founded by a Trump supporter who promoted unfounded conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the elections. 

Adonias Arevalo, national organizing director for Poder Latinx, released the following statement:


“Although the result of the vote around SB 1485 was surprising and welcomed, it does not yet mean victory. Republicans have promised to take up the issue again after getting the results of this bogus audit, which is being conducted by someone who promoted the Trump-backed “Stop the Steal” movement. We highly doubt this audit will be fair and doubt that it is even legally binding. If Republicans think they can keep us from voting with these sad attempts to suppress our voices, they are mistaken. We see right through their corrupt practices and will continue to work to put an end to them. We will keep fighting for our rights and to ensure that power is not taken away from the people. Arizonans have shown that when we organize and we vote, we can bring change to our community. Through voting, we have beaten the attempts to pass racist laws through the legislature. These voter suppression bills are a reflection of the fear that lawmakers have of Arizona’s voting power. We're watching closely to see how things develop and no matter what, we know we will need to keep fighting against attacks on our voting rights. This was one of the many attempts by the Arizona legislature to attack Arizona's right to vote in the past few months, and this must be stopped.”

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