The "Arizona Civil Rights Initiative" (ACRI) campaign submitted its petition signatures today in an effort to qualify for the November 2008 ballot, despite having obtained its signatures through pervasive racially-targeted voter fraud and criminal violations of Arizona election law.

"We are certain that ACRI will be disqualified," said Shanta Driver, national chair of BAMN. "We have amassed evidence, including from petition circulators themselves who are willing to step forward, of ACRI's pervasive racially-targeted voter fraud and criminal violations of Arizona election law. We will pursue our civil lawsuit. We also call on Attorney General Terry Goddard and Governor Janet Napolitano to launch an independent investigation. You cannot amend the state constitution through fraud. We will put Ward Connerly's entire operation on trial and make sure they don't get away with fraud and criminal acts in Arizona or any state they step foot in."

"In Missouri and Oklahoma, the Connerly campaign did not file their signatures—or withdrew them after filing them—because their signatures were fraught with fraud," said Maricruz López, a BAMN organizer. "In every state they've gone to, they've had to rely on misrepresenting the intent of ACRI to black and Latina/o voters to qualify their initiatives."

"The ACRI campaign has been fraught with fraud at every level: Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas—who is also chairman of the ACRI campaign—has lent his name and his support to this effort to disenfranchise the people of Arizona through massive voter fraud, and specifically racially-targeted voter fraud," said Driver.

For the past five weeks, BAMN has organized voter education teams to shadow ACRI circulators, alerted the community to ignore and to block circulators, organized a march, and gathered mounting evidence of ACRI's racially-targeted fraud and criminal violations of Arizona election law. The ACRI campaign's fraud starts with the deceptive language of the initiative itself, and has targeted black and Latina/o communities to obtain petition signatures under false pretenses.

Go to the FRAUD FINDER WEBSITE to see some of the growing evidence of ACRI's fraudulent practices.

Media Information Page: http://www.bamn.com/stopacri/media

Fraud Finder Website: http://www.bamn.com/stopacri/fraudfinder.asp

ACRI Fraud Finder:

STOP ACRI's growing evidence of the ACRI campaign's illegal tactics and fraud.