Arizonans won a major victory in the fight for fairness and equal opportunity when the so-called Arizona Civil Rights Initiative (ACRI) failed to qualify for the November ballot. One of a series of ballot proposals California businessman Ward Connerly spearheaded across the country, the ACRI aimed to eliminate affirmative action programs that help open doors to opportunity for countless people of color and women.

"This victory shows that, when held up to public scrutiny, Connerly's initiative can't pass muster," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "The citizens of Arizona have a firm commitment to equality, and have demonstrated that commitment by refusing to fall for Connerly's tricks."

As the July 3rd deadline to submit signatures loomed, Connerly and his allies engaged in questionable tactics, including tricking voters into signing their petitions, in a desperate attempt to collect the 230,047 needed to qualify for the ballot.

The ACLU joined with Protect Arizona's Freedom — a diverse coalition of community and labor organizations, students, and businesspeople — to sift through hundreds of thousands of signatures to determine whether or not they were valid. After working 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 18 days, the more than 1,000 volunteers completed their exhaustive review of the petitions. Their efforts culminated with the filing of a lawsuit on August 18th alleging that more than 100,000 of the signatures gathered by Connerly's out-of-state team were invalid due to violations of state law. Volunteers uncovered questionable signatures, including names "Jimmy Carter" of "Potomac," Gerald Ford and "Moammar Gadhafi." In fact, the Maricopa County elections office determined there was a 40% invalid rate.

"Trying to push through an initiative voters don't understand is not true democracy," added Meetze. "When equal opportunity and the civil rights of our citizens are at stake, it is critically important that the electoral process be fair, transparent and honest."

The defeat of the ACRI comes on the heels of two other Connerly defeats in Missouri and Oklahoma. The ACLU filed an amicus brief in a legal challenge that sought to ensure that the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative ballot language would notify voters of the initiative's impact on affirmative action. In another important win for affirmative action, Connerly and his allies moved to withdraw their so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OKCRI) after a group of concerned citizens, represented by the ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed a lawsuit challenging OKCRI's fraudulent signature-gathering tactics.