Phoenix Business Leaders Pen Editorial Criticizing Proposed Changes To Voting Laws

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Wednesday, April 7, 2021 - 11:59am
Updated: Thursday, June 17, 2021 - 11:39am

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Arizona is one of many states currently considering voting-related legislation.

Georgia already passed a series of bills that dramatically changed absentee ballots, including eliminating a signature-matching system that had been used to confirm a voter’s identity.

After the legislation was passed and signed into law, some of Georgia’s larger corporations and businesses — including Delta and Coca-Cola — have criticized the changes. And Major League Baseball decided to move its 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta.

Here in Arizona, Greater Phoenix Leadership and other business leaders signed an editorial titled "Disenfranchising Voters Is Not ‘Election Reform’" in response to voting-related proposals advancing at the Capitol.

The Show spoke with Neil Giuliano, president and CEO of Greater Phoenix Leadership, for more about their specific concerns about these bills.

State Sen. Martin Quezada says the executives are courageous to denounce the bills. 

"For them to come out like that shows that these issues are of that level of import. That they are so important that they were willing to risk making their supporters upset," Quezada said. 

Quezada, a Democrat, says if the bills become law, they could cost Arizona its chance to host the Super Bowl in 2023. Arizona Cardinals Owner Michael Bidwill is among the Greater Phoenix Leadership members who signed the editorial against the bills. 

Neil Giuliano
Tiara Vian/KJZZ
Neil Giuliano in KJZZ's studio in 2019.

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