PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday rejected a constitutional challenge to a voter-approved 2022 law that requires groups that spend money to influence elections to disclose the names of larger donors.
But the decision wasn’t a blanket win for supporters of the “Voters Right to Know Act,” which was approved by more than 70% of the state’s voters in the November 2022 election. Instead, the high court revived one claim made by the two groups that sued and ordered a trial court judge to consider it.
The Supreme Court, in a divided 4-3 opinion written by Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, rejected arguments that the law designed to stop so-called “dark money” was unconstitutional on its face or that it infringed on the privacy rights contained in the state constitution. “Dark money” refers to cash spent on campaigns where the money’s source is not revealed.
