Chavez v. Brewer

In Chavez v. Brewer, 222 Ariz. 309, 214 P.3d 397 (App. 2009), the Court held that certain qualified electors could maintain a private cause of action based on election officials' alleged failure to provide voting machines in compliance with statutory requirements. Id. at 311,1, 214 P.3d at 399. The Chavez plaintiffs were not simply members of the electorate, but individuals with disabilities and persons whose primary language was not English. Id. at 313,8, 214 P.3d at 401. The statute they sought to enforce required all polling sites to be equipped with "at least one voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities and accessible to voters in alternative languages." Id. at 318,28, 214 P.3d at 406. In implying a private cause of action in that context, the Court stated: The overall purpose of the voting machine statutes is to ensure the administration of fair and accurate elections and effectuate the Help American Vote Act of 2002 ("HAVA"). To achieve this goal, the legislature enacted some statutes that clearly benefit individuals with disabilities. For example, 16-442.01 sets forth voting systems criteria designed to guarantee blind and visually impaired voters the opportunity to vote. In addition, 16-442 provides that only machines that comply with HAVA may be approved, incorporating HAVA's requirement that each polling place provide at least one voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities and accessible to voters in alternative languages. . . . Thus, similar to the statutes at issue in Transamerica, the focus of these statutes is protecting the rights of individuals. Moreover, unlike the plaintiffs in Lancaster, appellants are not "incidental" beneficiaries of the statutes, but members of "the class for whose especial benefit" the statutes were adopted. Id.