We received official notice on Friday that the Checks in Balances initiative will not make the November ballot. Although we knew from the get-go that it was an uphill battle given the late start we had in collecting signatures, our belief in the urgent nature of this initiative was enough to give it the ol’ college try.
And try we did! We got as close to success as we did thanks to the amazing determination of our friends, family and volunteers. We simply started too late. We are so very appreciative of everyone’s efforts and know that our disappointment is shared amongst a great many people.
There have been suggestions of legal arguments which may have helped recapture some of the signatures which were disqualified by either the Secretary of State’s office or by the counties themselves; however, after meeting personally with these groups, we believe that they have been upstanding in their efforts, legitimate in their findings and most gracious to us in this somewhat mundane and thankless role they play. We will not be taking any legal action at this time. We have also made the decision to return any third party financial contributions as a good faith effort to not burn bridges or discourage folks from getting involved next go-round.
As disappointing as this news is, we are admittedly a tiny bit relieved to recapture some “normalcy” in our day-to-day. There have been a few reports about how a crazy millionaire in AZ had nothing better to do with his time or money and therefore started playing in politics. While those reports were cute and helped us find some humor along the way, the fact is that our families and coworkers have made heavy sacrifices during this process. We have spouses, children and coworkers who have directly and indirectly climbed onto this rollercoaster along with us.
We will take advantage of the next few months to catch our breath, refocus on our families and day jobs. As with many first-time efforts, we have learned quite a few valuable lessons this time and we will certainly be taking those into heavy consideration when strategizing next cycle’s initiative efforts.
Thanks again to everyone who has helped push this initiative forward. We will continue to post updates as we get close to the next cycle.
It is so sad that this did not pass on to become law. In Navajo County Arizona the constitution and the Arizona State Law or Bill of Rights is not in effect in the courtrooms. I was hoping this would pass and then an effort could be made to insist that these judges not continue to act treasonous against the constitution and be forced to actually follow the state and federal laws. Persons in our county are not afforded equal protection under the law. The laws of our state and land are not considered worth protecting including innocent until proven guilty which has been turned by judges into guilty until proven innocent. If I call the police because of an illegal act against me by certain persons they are not held accountable and there is always an excuse why the law cannot be upheld against them including felonous actions they have taken. I wish there were some attorney or group that actually upheld citizens rights and would stand up for the constiitution and the law to be upheld but have not found such an organization or lawyer as yet.
Too bad your efforts did not pay off, but someday this will get on the ballot and pass.
I’ll be happy to pitch in on the next go-round.