counsel stated that eleven of the Plaintiffs were Republican Party nominees to be electors, and the other three were county GOP Chairs. As an initial matter, Plaintiffs’ briefing does not contain any arguments that the GOP Chairs have standing to assert this claim and the Court will dismiss the claim as to the GOP Chairs outright.
Plaintiffs argue that the Plaintiff Electors should be considered “candidates,” and thus that they have standing under the Electors and Elections Clause pursuant to an Eighth Circuit case, Carson v. Simon, 978 F.3d 1051 (8th Cir. 2020). (Doc. 44 at 5). That case, which is based on the operation of Minnesota state election law, allowed electors to bring claims under the Elections Clause because electors were treated as candidates for office under Minnesota law and thus would be injured by the governor’s failure to seat them if chosen as the state’s electors. See Carson, 978 F.3d at 1057.
Plaintiff Electors likewise assert that under Arizona law they should also be considered “candidates.” (Doc. 44 at 5–6) (citing A.R.S. § 16-344). However, the Electors are not candidates for office as the term is generally understood. Arizona law makes clear that the duty of an Elector is to fulfill a ministerial function, which is extremely limited in scope and duration, and that they have no discretion to deviate at all from the duties imposed by the statute. See A.R.S. § 16-212(C) (“After the secretary of state issues the statewide canvass containing the results of a presidential election, the presidential electors of this state shall cast their electoral college votes for the candidate for president and the candidate for vice president who jointly received the highest number of votes in this state as prescribed in the canvass.”) (emphasis added). Arizona voters do not show up to vote for any single Electors listed next to the presidential candidates’ names; they vote for their preferred presidential candidate. By specifying that the electors “shall be enclosed in a bracketed list” next to “the surname of the presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate,” A.R.S. § 16-507(B) clarifies and distinguishes the Electors’ ministerial status from that of the presidential candidate running for office, the latter who unquestionably suffers the discrete injury required for standing.[1] Notably, the Republican candidate whose
- ↑ A.R.S. § 16-507(B) in its entirety reads: “Presidential electors, which, shall be enclosed in a bracketed list and next to the bracketed list shall be printed in bold type the surname
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