Az

August 23, 2008 Attorney General Terry Goddard Office of the Attorney General 1275 West Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85007 VIA FAX: 602.542.4085 SUBJECT: Solicitation to Violate ARS 16-243. National convention delegates; pledged support to candidates Dear Attorney General Goddard: Here in Arizona, obeying the above-cited law means that pledged delegates selected as the result of votes cast for Senator Clinton in the Presidential primary election must vote for her during first-round balloting at the nominating convention of the Democratic Party. But in what can at best be interpreted as an overzealous advocacy on behalf of Senator Obama, in states throughout the country, including Arizona, proponents for his nomination have bombarded Senator Clinton’s delegates with subtle and not-so-subtle pressures to commit to switching support to him, before the convention. Or, failing that, they replace the Clinton-pledged delegate with one loyal to Obama. (See examples below. Note that while the first link shows the copy of a letter Senator Obama’s campaign sent to pledged delegates in Georgia, they distributed this same letter to delegates in all states. And Georgia, like Arizona, mandates pledged delegates to follow their candidates into the convention.) Therefore, in Arizona (and Georgia, and California, and Indiana, and numerous other states), encouraging delegates entrusted with representing the political preference of Clinton voters to pledge their support before the convention to Obama solicits these delegates to break the law. As a concerned citizen of Arizona, I am bringing this matter to your immediate attention, anticipating you will take appropriate action to ensure that from now on, any campaigning in this state related to the upcoming Democratic National Convention is consistent with Arizona laws. Sincerely,

References:

“Bearing Witness” (posting of letter from Khalil Thompson, Obama for America, Chicago) http://heidilipotpourri.blogspot.com/2008/08/bearing-witness.html

Clinton supporters protesting removal of delegate at Democratic National Convention http://www.whas11.com/news/local/stories/WHAS11_POLITICS_080814_CLINTONOBAMA.486a4d97.html “Explain, Dems tell Clinton delegate” (article on state party efforts to discipline Colorado delegate for Clinton for refusing to switch to Obama) http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_10170139 Copy:

Jan Brewer, Secretary of State VIA FAX: 602.542.1575 Don Bivens, Chair, Arizona Democratic Party [email protected]