The midterm elections are 26 days away, and in Arizona the fight over who decides American elections is already in the courts. Because of a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, Arizona must accept the federal voter registration form with no proof of citizenship, so the state built a federal-only ballot: a voter who never documented citizenship still votes for President, Senate and Congress. A federal judge has now ruled that only the states can decide who votes, while the left argues the National Voter Registration Act stops states from checking. The Supreme Court takes up Arizona's proof-of-citizenship rules on December 8, after the votes are counted.
Merissa Caldwell, founder and chairwoman of EZAZ, was on the January 2024 coalition call with Senator Mike Lee where Jenny Beth Martin asked for the bill that became the SAVE America Act. Today she walks through what is wrong with the Arizona ballot, how a grassroots organization keeps voters showing up when confidence is low, how EZAZ fills poll worker and poll watcher roles from both parties, and what a volunteer can do in the next 26 days. The hour opens with President Trump's San Antonio rally for Ken Paxton and closes with two sides of that rally, a reading of Marvin Tyson's "For Texas!" and a remembrance three years after October 7.
Guest: Merissa Caldwell, founder and chairwoman of EZAZ, the Arizona grassroots organization that trains and mobilizes volunteers for voter registration, get-out-the-vote and election integrity work (ezaz.org). Robert McNeily, Director of Broadcasting and Grassroots Engagement at Tea Party Patriots Action, hosts in for Jenny Beth Martin.
Today's topics:
• 26 days to the midterms: what is really on the ballot beyond the headlines, and why turnout decides it
• President Trump's San Antonio rally for Ken Paxton's Senate run, with Senator Ted Cruz and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's keynote
• Arizona's federal-only ballot: the 2013 Supreme Court ruling, and why a voter who never proved citizenship still votes for President, Senate and Congress
• The January 2024 coalition call with Senator Mike Lee that became the SAVE America Act
• December 8 at the Supreme Court: a federal judge says only the states decide who votes, and the left says the National Voter Registration Act stops states from checking citizenship
• How a grassroots leader convinces voters to show up when confidence in elections is low
• What EZAZ is and what it does in Arizona
• Poll workers and poll watchers from both parties: how EZAZ fills those roles
• Knocking doors, phone calls and postcards: how a volunteer plugs in this month
• Does the top of the ticket carry the down-ballot races, or can the down-ballot races carry the top?
• The top three issues Arizonans raise at the door, and the concerns elected officials overlook
• Recruiting and keeping volunteers after the election is over
• Issue campaigns versus candidate campaigns: how to measure which one is working
• Reagan's eleventh commandment, with 26 days to go
• What keeps working people out of local politics, and how to make participation accessible
• Reaching the voters who have never engaged in a local election
• Two sides of a Trump rally: the protesters outside and the crowd inside the Freeman Coliseum
• "For Texas!" by Marvin Tyson: the Alamo and the price of liberty
• Three years after October 7: remembering the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel, and the hostages brought home
• The call to action, and it takes five minutes: IWillSaveAmerica.com
Watch Tuesday's episode, where Jenny Beth Martin and Cleta Mitchell tell the story of how the SAVE America Act got started.
The Jenny Beth Show airs live Monday through Friday at 1:00 PM ET. Hosted by Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party movement and Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action. Subscribe for daily analysis of politics, policy, and the fight for constitutionally limited government. teapartypatriots.org
#MerissaCaldwell #EZAZ #Arizona #ElectionIntegrity #Midterms2026 #GetOutTheVote #SAVEAmericaAct #ProofOfCitizenship #SupremeCourt #PollWatchers #Grassroots #KenPaxton #RobertMcNeily #JennyBethShow #TeaPartyPatriotsAction