Foes say petition circulators use illegal means

Foes of an initiative to ban race- and sex-based discrimination by government are charging that organizers have used unfair and illegal tactics in pushing the same measure elsewhere.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, is using those "reports" to demand that Ward Connerly, the architect of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, set up a toll-free hotline for Arizonans to report "misinformation, intimidation or fraudulent practices" by those circulating petitions.

Sinema also wants Connerly to list the names of all petition circulators on his Web site and conduct criminal background checks on them "to prevent those convicted of identity theft, sexual assault or other crimes from gaining the personal information of Arizona voters."

She provided no evidence at Tuesday's news conference of any improprieties or illegal acts by Connerly's backers in Arizona.

And she told reporters she is unwilling to do the same on an initiative drive she is heading to ban all public and private employers from discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.

Connerly dismissed her demands as "ridiculous." And he said the Georgia firm he hired to circulate petitions here and in some other states, National Ballot Access Inc., simply subcontracts the work with Arizona-based firms, the same ones being paid by other groups hoping to qualify for the November ballot.

The charges and demands came as new reports show that Connerly's organization has already contributed about $445,000 to get his measure on the ballot here.

Sinema sought to deflect questions about the initiative itself, which would make it illegal for state and local governments as well as public schools to either discriminate against or grant preferences based on race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, contracting or education. It is modeled after a measure Connerly got California voters to adopt in 1996.

"Today's press conference is really about Ward Connerly's practice and deception he's done in other states," she said.

But when pushed for specifics, Sinema said it would eliminate equal opportunity programs at community colleges and universities.

She particularly cited Women in Science and Engineering, "which provides assistance and support to female college students as they prepare to launch their careers in science, technology, math and engineering."

Tiffany Troidi, a lobbyist for the Arizona Students Association, said those kinds of programs are necessary because young women get neither the encouragement nor exposure to go into those programs.

Much of the dispute over the petition process comes down to questions of what the signature-gathering firms are telling the people they hire as circulators, and what the circulators - who are paid based on the number of signatures they obtain - then tell people when trying to get them to sign the petitions.

Sinema said Connerly's campaign is hiring minorities near homeless shelters to go into black and Hispanic communities to circulate the petitions. She said they are deceiving voters by telling them that the measure would end discrimination.

Connerly did not dispute that was happening. But he said the circulators, while eager to get signatures and the money that goes with that, "may say things that, while truthful, may not be the things that I would say to someone to get their signatures."

And he said using a "shortcut" to say the measure ends discrimination is not lying.

"Well, it does end discrimination against whites as well," Connerly said. "But a lot of our opponents don't think that discrimination against whites - or pursuing diversity for blacks - is, in fact, discrimination against whites."

One other big complaint is that Connerly is using out-of-state petition circulators, something not legal in Arizona. Connerly said that is not true.

A related issue, cited by activist Marge Mead, is that the measure is being pushed by out-of-state interests, including Connerly.

But not all of the opposition to the initiative is homegrown, either.

Alejandra Cruz is in Arizona to organize a local operation of By Any Means Necessary, a Detroit-based group whose goals include defending affirmative action, racial integration and other civil rights gains from the 1960s. Cruz, a student at UCLA's law school, said she has been the victim of Connerly's California initiative, which has shut minorities out of education programs there and wants to ensure the idea does not spread elsewhere.

Connerly has until July 3 to get 230,047 valid signatures to put his measure on the November ballot.