MARICOPA COUNTY 🧵FEATURING ELECTION OFFICIAL STEPHEN RICHER:
💥"THE FIRST AMENDMENT is the Biggest Threat to Democracy and Elections"💥
Many have seen the article by @azfreenews on Stephen using government resources to have staff compile news on his "personal" defamation lawsuit, but not everyone saw in the article that he tried to get published by @nro, but it was TOO EXTREME for even them
In August of 2021, Jack Butler, the Submissions Editor at National Review, reached out to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, asking if he would like to place another op-ed in @NRO
Stephen offered to write a piece making the case that the "Stop the Steal" movement is "anti-conservative"
But on Sept. 23rd, 2021, Recorder Stephen Richer presented a very different op-ed & copied one of his staff on the email
Stephen said, "Not the article I promised, but what do you think about this one"
Jack Butler from @NRO gave a reply that it was essentially too extreme for them
What made it so controversial?👀
😲Jack said Recorder Stephen Richer needed to "shed the bits about reconsidering First Amendment jurisprudence"🤯
But he could keep the parts about the D *mini*n lawsuits "having their desired effect"
Oh my gosh! What desired effect is that? Oh boy, buckle up!
Recorder Stephen Richer opens up lamenting that his job has caused him to be disturbed by humanity
And that's led to him having a new perspective on the First Amendment.... He references European laws as an alternative
You know, the ones where the Police arrest you for posting almost any opinion on social media that the government doesn't approve of at any given moment
It should be noted that as I write this, there have been several posts of the FBI visiting people to "check in on their social media posts"
He then moves into fabricating a ridiculous fake example of an obviously fake statement saying that "gullible people" might believe this "fake" set of facts
He goes on to lament that the First Amendment is particularly "protective of political speech" and that seems to be a BIG problem for him when it comes to people talking about elections
In Recorder Stephen's world of receiving a paycheck from your hard-earned tax dollars, YOUR OPINIONS AREN'T WELCOME!
Recorder Stephen continues by saying that "local crazies" -- YES YOU --- believe the "lies" about election operations
We should apparently just TRUST OUR GOVERNMENT as the MINISTRY OF TRUTH -- how very Orwellian
He claims prominent politicians tell him in private that they believe elections are fine
He says the First Amendment means he "can't touch these idiots" --- especially for him as a public official
He suggests suing for DEFAMATION as a remedy -- sound familiar🧐
Recorder Stephen Richer goes on to complain about America First news @OANN and Telegram, calling his voters "IDIOTS"
What an election tagline -- "YOU ARE AN IDIOT IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING I SAY AND VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I AM THE GOVERNMENT"
Recorder Stephen Richer says that the First Amendment is "the biggest threat to elections and democracy"
He claims the First Amendment is the cause of people "dropping out of elections" --- Of course, people losing trust in elections has absolutely nothing to do with citizens just wanting the most secure and competent elections possible that FOLLOW THE LAW {note my sarcasm}
This is a theme we've seen recently at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, where Supervisor Clint Hickman blamed peaceful citizens participating in public comment as the reason they face violent threats
I am a survivor of violence, and I find Hickman's statements extremely offensive and, quite frankly anti-American
While violence should always be condemned, it's massively irresponsible for a public official to falsely blame peaceful people for the actions of others that have absolutely nothing to do with them
We've heard such rhetoric from despots in the last century in Europe, and it didn't end well
While I condemn such rhetoric too, Clint Hickman has a right to say such haphazard speech, seemingly looking to whip people up into a frenzy since it was getting close to the 11:30 MAG Region closing time
REMINDER: Elections are the First Amendment antidote to politicians we don't like!!!!
PS. As a former government employee, I also experienced threats. There are a lot of unstable people out there, and everyone is their verbal punching bag, unfortunately. If only there was a large county that had a tremendous budget for mental health to help people resolve their demons🙄NOPE! Too busy distributing health services by race instead of need.
Recorder Stephen Richer closes his op-ed with the hope that the D* mini *n defamation lawsuit "resets" some of this First Amendment jurisprudence "landscape"
He goes on to suggest that whether or not the election tabulation systems provider wins their defamation lawsuits, it's within the government's best interest to limit First Amendment rights in America
This is TERRIFYING STUFF!!!!
The man (Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer) who oversees one of the most essential functions of the First Amendment, OUR RIGHT TO VOTE, believes it's the government's role --- in a way his job -- to limit that fundamental human right of speech
The Founders must be rolling over in their graves!!!
Without free speech, the consent to govern does not exist! We quickly slip into tyranny!!
But IT GETS WORSE!!!!
A few days earlier in 2021, Recorder Stephen Richer sent his staff a version of the op-ed to use as a speech on CONSTITUTION DAY -- a sacred day in the history of human rights
NOTE: He says he oversees the administration of elections, which is precisely the type of description he's suing @karilake for defamation over🍌🤡
Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer's speech seems designed to trample on the Constitution, but he tries to give it a smiley diet-coke cover
He reminds us he's broken the main promise he made to us -- "Make the Recorder's Office Boring Again"
Where do we get a refund for that one?
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer goes into the Constitutional history of voting rights before laying down the hammer and fully trampling on one of the most sacred documents in human rights history
THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS A THORN IN HIS SIDE
He says: "I posit that the gravest threat to voting rights and our elected form of government is no longer the systematic disenfranchisement of a particular class of people, but instead the undermining of the entire
election system through lies and disinformation.
And it is in this respect, that the Constitution today is in some ways a thorn in the side of my office. Specifically the First Amendment."
(WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH🤯😡🤯😡)
Well, yeah, dude.... LITERALLY, THE POINT OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT WAS SO IT WOULD BE A THORN IN THE SIDE OF TYRANTS AND DESPOTS
He also complains of "C*VID" misinformation on the vaccine --- This is where I get especially perturbed🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
My side note: I am still heartbroken that I lost the co-founder of and one of my closest friends earlier this year in part to a common lethal symptom of taking vaccines, who was forced to take the vaccine by Trudeau to see her newborn grandbaby
My dear friend was disabled, so in 2020, she took a scooter she adjusted for her needs and went door to door in triple-digit weather to get that "Make the Recorder's Office Boring Again" man elected in support of the FIRST AMENDMENT and free, fair, and competent elections!
The 501c3 arm of our organization is currently suing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and the County. My co-founder planned on being the main plaintiff because she saw it as the best recourse to get that man and his office to follow the law, giving us our best chance to fairly re-elect President Trump and save freedom! She wanted Stephen to know how she felt about his job performance.
Unfortunately, she died suddenly right before the lawsuit was supposed to be filed.
On the morning of her death, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to review the Presidential Preference Election Plan. We couldn't make it because I was attending to her family in ensuring her body was well looked after according to her wishes.
Reportedly, Clint Hickman complained we weren't at the meeting. I would have spoken about this at the PPE certification meeting last week, but Chairman @jacksellers banned public commentEZAZ.org
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer closes his speech by saying, "he doesn't have a solution" to the problem of the pesky First Amendment ---
He calls it a RELIGIOUS PROBLEM too --- HAPPY EASTER FELLOW CHRISTIANS!
He says he's "hesitant to disrupt something that has served this country well for so long"
Wow! A lot can change in two (& three) years!!!! Doesn't seem so hesitant now.
BUT IT STILL GETS WORSE!!!
The response from his staff (presumably) wasn't anything like Jack Butler's --- kindly saying it's too extreme
NOPE!!!
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's staff is ALL-IN saying, "I love it"
This man, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, NOW has the hubris to ask the voters to re-hire him to finish what he's started
This begs the question⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
If he's using his government staff to assist in this effort of First Amendment jurisprudence, what exactly is happening in his office with your hard-earned money?
That's a great question and I hope we get some answers on this!!!!
In the meantime, you can download the full speech and op-ed public record requests from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer at merissahamilton.com
BY THE WAY
It's definitely just a coincidence that my entire account was suspended yesterday while I have been working on government accountability in Maricopa County with a whole department run by a man who seeks First Amendment Jurisprudence while the Supreme Court is reviewing a case as to whether or not the government can coordinate with social media companies to suppress our speech and even access to the platforms
TOTAL COINCIDENCE!!!!!
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Want to know why the mainstream media always bows down to Maricopa County and is complicit with their lies and misinformation?
... Besides so many MSM entities being corrupt hacks...
Maricopa County threatens them when they don't fall in line. See @azfamily ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
In Dec. 2021 when @azfamily had Senate President @fannkfann and @rickgray on to give an update on the AZ Senate Audit, Maricopa County sent their News Director a threatening demand letter
The letter demanded they change their story to reflect only Maricopa County's talking points
They demanded air time and propaganda be inserted in all of the future programming of the shows the interview with @fannkfann appeared
What did the "fourth branch of government" @azfamily do?
Well, naturally, they bent the knee -- because who needs media that actually is journalism
When I went to your office today and was denied seeing my voter registration record, for good measure, I asked what my Party designation currently was in the system, and I was told by your staff my voter registration record said I was registered as REPUBLICAN PARTY
Now, I checked just for good measure, and my address and Party were changed without my consent or knowledge per the AZSOS site!!!!
I didn't register any vehicles or pets or make any changes!!!! I check my status on your website frequently and up until today, my address and Party were correct!!!!
How did this happen!!!! Where did this address and Party come from!!!!!
Your voter dashboard has my record locked!
Waiting on a PRR response is not acceptable!
@stephen_richer The MVD says my address hasn't been updated since September 14th, 2018
@stephen_richer, HOW DID MY ENTIRE VOTER REGISTRATION RECORD CHANGE RIGHT BEFORE THE PPE (AND IN BETWEEN THE TIME I LEFT YOUR OFFICE TODAY AFTER SUBMITTING A NEW VOTER REG FORM)!!!!!!!
If you missed the post on what happened at the Recorder's Office today, here's the video:
Before we get into the bill, it’s important to understand the current situation with election manipulation by the government, their association entities, and the radical left non-profit sector.
See a clip from the latest video from @TuckerCarlson and former State Dept @MikeBenzCyber, currently @FFO_Freedom
He explains that the target by operatives in the government, election administration leadership, and the Marxist radical left infrastructure are the following areas of election operations:
◾️Early Mail-in Ballots
◾️Early Voting Drop Boxes
◾️Ballot Tabulation Issues on Election Day
REMEMBER THESE THREE AREAS!!!!
He also suggests that 7 months before the 2020 election, the government knew the outcome of the Presidential election 🤯 Mike’s response when Tucker asked if that is what he was suggesting was, “It looks very bad.”
We in Arizona have always suspected concerns with the manipulations we have seen and the response by Maricopa County Supervisors and Recorder Richer, but we never had someone who was in a position of authority in the government and had first-hand knowledge of what occurred.
It's also important to note that to get the bill passed with the needed emergency clause margin, legislators were told three BIG lies by House leadership:
◾️They were told that the language to ensure the candidate signature deadline was staying April 8th was added to the bill — this never happened and those in charge knew this bill would change the date to April 1st, causing grassroots candidates to lose a week
◾️The ballot harvesting loopholes were closed -- they weren't and in fact made bigger in the final language
◾️Grassroots leaders, including myself and @JenWEsq were on board with the bill when the vote happened -- we weren't because we were lied to about the amendments and were prohibited from seeing the language
HB2785 does indeed have important reforms to help move the needle to secure our elections, but that still leaves the questions ...
Why the backroom deals, as proudly described by Rep. @realAlexKolodin, the manipulations in Katie Hobbs' fake-being opposed to the bill, the coverup, the blocking of amendments to close Marxist-laid loopholes, allowing fmr Marc Elias staff to add more muddied language to the bill last minute, blocking the legislators from reading the final bill, rushing the vote, and pretending like everything is fine afterward?
Is this really a grassroots victory?
Let's dig into HB2785 and start with the WINS, which are substantial:
◾️System Logfiles Posted After Election Tabulation Completed
◾️Chain of Custody Counts of Early Ballots on Election Day Now Required
◾️List of Curing and Provisional Ballots Provided
◾️Ballot Processing Must Continue Until Finished – No 3 am Breaks
The BIG EMERGENCY Election mirror bills are out, and there's a lot to cover
Please stick with this thread and read to the end as it's CRITICAL YOU CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS!
👉👉These bills are being heard in a joint hearing tomorrow at 9 am in Senate Room SHR1. We need you to show up!!!!
I am not a fan of these rushed bills as they never get sufficient stakeholder review, which is why this thread is necessary!!!
(Signature verification is included in the bill, but there's a 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩that disenfranchises vulnerable voters and leaves a MACK TRUCK🚛 size gap for REALLY BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN)
GOVERNMENT GOES TO THOSE WHO SHOW UP, and there are lots of ways to participate including⬇️
▪️ RTS to 👍👎 the bills -- I am a THUMBS DOWN until major amendments are made. You can also add your comments to the Committee since the bills are now added to an agenda. (go to for tips on this)
▪️ Email and Call your legislators - Go to the back pages of the calendar if you have it .... OR Go and click on the House/ Senate and members or see
▪️ Tweet to your legislators - Go to the back pages of the calendar if you have it for all of the handlesezaz.org/rts EZAZ.org AZleg.gov
With these bills having an emergency clause, it requires a 2/3rds YES vote to pass and take immediate effect. That means 40 Legislators in the House and 20 in the Senate.
It’s worth it to take the time to make your voice heard to your representatives.
This bill is a BIG DEAL and has PERMANENT RAMIFICATIONS for years to come!
Let's begin with the TOP concerns ... Keep Reading....
Pg 25 lines 4-6
This section refers to senior and disabled voters who need assistance
It’s been long known that voters in this category feel marginalized because there’s no verification to ensure they are not marginalized and victimized by the heavily Dem-dominated senior voter assistance industry
This language provides Zero safeguards to ensure
▪️ The voter assistant is a real person (any name is sufficient)
▪️ The voter is truly disabled
▪️ The voter authorized the voter assistant to cast the ballot (because the mismatched signature of the voter is assumed to be valid without contacting the voter to confirm).
Truly disabled voters have an identifying mark, and this process allows them to be disenfranchised by a caregiver (or even a stranger), without the voter getting the opportunity to confirm the ballot was cast by them. Invites disabled and elderly voters to be exploited and invites widespread abuse as anyone can just put any name as a voter assistant and the county is under no obligation to track or confirm voter assistants.
I am not aware of any tracking or verifying voter assistants, so it leaves a huge wide open gap, especially while the Recorders prohibit monitoring of these signatures and marks from watch groups.
Already vulnerable adults should be given the right to confirm that a mismatched mark/signature on a voter-assisted ballot was truly cast by them - otherwise our most vulnerable voters could be legally disenfranchised as the county simply exempts all of these ballots from any reasonable inspection or review.
It’s very concerning to codify this language and likely disproportionately disenfranchises vulnerable adults.
@MARICOPAVOTE just testified that MVD has an innocuous OPT-OUT option on their website which is causing @katiehobbs government to change the county or party of how someone registered to vote without clear CONSENT when registering vehicles or homes
THIS IS VOTER SUPPRESSION
It sounds like this policy is a legacy policy from the previous administration which caused the many provisional ballots to be rejected that changed the outcome of @AbrahamHamadeh and @KariLake's case
Even though Maricopa County admitted this is creating Precinct Committeemen and voter suppression, they will not use their resources to fix the problem with the state according to the meeting today
The Election Procedures Manual interprets Arizona's election laws for the Counties and their Recorders. Secretary Adrian Fontes just released his draft. He reduced public participation by 75%, so we only have TODAY to send our comments.
Thanks to over 100 AMAZING volunteers, we've found 355+ issues we need to report back to be changed before it's finalized!
It's so bad @AZSenateGOP already published that they will sue @AZSecretary if he doesn't fix some major issues he added to it which will trample elections.
By submitting our comments, we show that there's public concern and opposition to Adrian's election-stealing shenanigans
Here's a few of the bad things he's trying to get away with:
◾ Under signature verification, he removed that unsigned affidavit envelopes cannot be counted