Ninth Circuit upholds Arizona dark money transparency law

A divided Ninth Circuit panel upheld Arizona's Proposition 211, the Voters Right to Know Act, rejecting a challenge from Americans for Prosperity that argued the disclosure law chills free speech and forces unwanted political association. The 2-1 majority found the law, approved by more than 70 percent of Arizona voters in 2022, imposes only a modest burden proportional to the public's interest in knowing who funds political spending.

The law requires campaigns spending over certain thresholds to disclose donors giving more than $5,000, with exceptions for personal or business funds. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, warning the law could ‘doxx’ indirect donors, like someone who gave to their church only to see that church later fund a political candidate.

The Arizona Supreme Court had already largely upheld the act in June, and the Ninth Circuit panel followed that lead.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.