The Fight Over Plenary Legislative Power Is On
While the Judicial and Executive Branches Fight to Limit Legislative Power & Authority...
Phoenix, AZ June 5, 2023, There is a fight brewing in Arizona —yes another one— and it deals with the Legislative authority retained in the Constitution of the United States for the States by the States when the document was drafted (1787). You may recall my Post of May 22, 2023 regarding SCR1037, the Senate Concurrent Resolution that places certain Department of Defense security standards on all electronic voting equipment, including voting assistance machines and ballot tabulators. Why did the Arizona Legislature do that? In short, a lack of trust in Federal agencies and a recognition that we have a domestic security exposure.
One glaring example of distrust is the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC), which has already shown a lack of integrity through back-dating necessary, legally required certification documents.
“[T]he US Federal Government’s Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has… claimed uncertified auditors who performed voting system audits were certified and provide for Americans to report on vote misinformation while providing no avenue for the average American to report on voter fraud.” GatewayPundit.com, Joe Hoft, Jan. 29, 2021 5:18 pm
The EAC violated its own regulations that arise from Federal laws, and we are supposed to trust in, and rely upon such an agency? I think not. While the EAC may exhibit a lack of respect for the law, the Arizona Legislature takes its role very seriously.
Let’s review, the Arizona House and Senate passed SCR1037 under authority of the specific “supreme law of the land,” namely the Constitution of the United States, Article VI, Clause 2 “Supremacy Clause.”
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
Ok, so taking the Constitution as black letter law…
Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 is crystal clear, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof;…” It is unambiguous that there is no place for the Executive Branch in state governments here, meaning the authority is plenary, as in absolute. The only role the Judicial Branch has is, the Judges in every State SHALL BE BOUND THEREBY, which means they are bound to uphold the stated Legislative prescription, hard stop. The Arizona Legislature is applying the very law that their colleagues reserved for their exclusive use when the Constitution was written and ratified.
And now comes the lawless Arizona SoS Adrian Fontes. He is encouraging all 15 Arizona County Boards of Supervisors to ignore the “new law” that plainly supersedes previous law, claiming that that SCR1037 carries no weight.
Monday, May 22, 2023 PHOENIX – Secretary of State Adrian Fontes released the following statement regarding Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli's letter to county officials regarding SCR 1037: "Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037, which expresses a desire to restrict the use of certain electronic voting machines, is non-binding and does not have the force of law. Election equipment must be certified by the federal and state government by specific requirements outlined in federal and state law. That certification process is being followed in Arizona and all applicable election equipment being used in Arizona is certified. If those requirements or certification process were to be changed, it would require a regular bill to be passed by the legislature and signed by the governor—which is not the case for this non-binding resolution. We defer to the Attorney General’s office on all other legal questions."
The action of the Arizona Legislature took on a domestic security exposure, with national security implications. As General Michael Flynn says, “local action with national impact.” Read on for a model that all State Legislatures can use, a model that the People can promote, along with paper ballots, hand counting, and count where cast election requirements…
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