Arizona: Secretary of State investigating failed Phoenix City Council recall effort for campaign finance violations

A failed attempt to recall Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is leading the Arizona Secretary of State to investigate a nonprofit that put up nearly all the money to finance the recall effort.

The nonprofit Project Voters' Rights claimed that they had enough signatures, but didn't turn them in (which can and should be translated as they didn't have enough signatures). The head of the nonprofit was the spokesman for three Phoenix mayors. According to the coverage, Project Voters' Rights gave $50K for the recall, which amounted to almost all (save $100) that Save Phoenix Taxpayers raised for the DiCiccio recall.

The issue is whether Project Voters' Rights should have to disclose its donors -- as Save Phoenix Taxpayers seems to be a simple pass-through entity designed to shield donors from scrutiny. There was some stories regarding DiCiccio's fundraising, but none with questions about his donor's identity.