U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, blasted the state's voter ID proposition as voter disenfranchisement as he stood with local labor, political and spiritual leaders Tuesday in Phoenix.

The men and women in the windowless conference room, tucked deep inside the United Food and Commercial Workers local's hall, oppose Proposition 144. They said the Nov. 3 ballot measure would wipe out the state’s most popular form of voting: mail-in ballots.

That was discussed by the handful of men and women decked out in bright blue UFCW shirts, as well as spiritual leaders like Pastor Aubrey Barnwell.

Barnwell, senior pastor at Phoenix’s First New Life Church, is also the director of operations for the African American Christian Clergy Coalition, a progressive spiritual group in Maricopa County that aims to promote Arizona's diverse churches and ministries.

On Tuesday, Barnwell warmed up the crowd of union members for the day’s main speaker, Kelly. The pastor warned Prop. 144 would disenfranchise those who rely on mail-in voting, which accounted for 80.1% of all ballots submitted in 2022 (and 85.7% in 2020).

The longtime pastor argued that the proposition’s requirement to show government-issued ID to vote by mail would make it virtually impossible to do, an overreach he likened to the obstacles put in place during the country’s Jim Crow era.

“Will we recognize a barrier even when it arrives dressed up in respectable language?” Barnwell said. “Will we know the history - the history of literacy tests, poll taxes and rules designed to decide whose voice will be counted? That history makes it our responsibility to examine every new voting restriction carefully.”

Kelly says Prop. 144 is irresponsible

When he took the stage, Kelly, a Tucson native who’s midway through his first term in Congress, told the crowd that Prop. 144 is unnecessary.

The proposition, which would require voter ID, ban noncitizens from voting or contributing to state and federal political campaigns, and give voters the option of having their ballot counted at their chosen voting location, is a way for Republicans to stay in power, Kelly said.

“This is the most common way to vote in Arizona. Over 80% of people vote by mail,” Kelly said. “I think it's no coincidence that we're in a midterm election year and that the most popular way to vote in Arizona is under attack.”

No organizations have officially registered in support of the proposition, though 501(c)(4) conservative public policy organization Arizona Free Enterprise Club has gone on the record in support of the measure, while the Tuesday event's co-sponsor (progressive political group Will of the People) has taken in $206,000 in cash contributions alone, according to Ballotpedia.

Greg Blackie, who serves as the Arizona Free Enterprise Club's deputy director of policy, said Kelly’s opposition to Prop. 144 is a natural extension of his calls to oppose voter ID laws on a national basis, saying his stance will only make Arizonans lives more difficult at the polls.

“Voter ID, proof of citizenship, and banning foreign funding are all commonsense reforms, and Arizona voters will see through the misinformation from Kelly and the out-of-state-funded Will of the People,” Blackie told The Center Square. “Prop. 144 preserves every voting option available today while adding a new one: Voters will be able to tabulate their ballot on Election Day at their polling location, helping speed up results.

“It ensures our elections are secure and accurate by requiring every voter to provide ID before casting a ballot,” he added.

When it comes to election security, Kelly, a former astronaut who served for a quarter-century in the U.S. Navy and was a combat pilot, questioned how such a measure would impact the country’s men and women in uniform.

He also questioned why such an act is necessary when anyone that votes in-person must present government ID in Arizona, and when U.S. law makes voting as a noncitizen a felony offense.

Before ceding the floor back to the men and women who introduced him, Kelly circled back around to the hypothetical kitchen table where he and his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Arizona, cast their votes each election cycle.

Kelly implored the crowd to do their homework on each of the propositions on this year’s ballot, though he said one would be easier to cast aside than the others, that being the one that brought them all into the room two weeks before Election Day.

“You're going to be sitting at your kitchen table filling out your ballot, and Proposition 144 is what you really need to pay close attention to you, because what you are literally doing at your kitchen table at that moment, they are trying to take away from you,” Kelly said. “They want to make that harder.”