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AZ Supreme Court: Arizonans can vote on 'open primaries' ballot measure

The Arizona State Courts Building in downtown Phoenix
Tim Agne/KJZZ
The Arizona State Courts Building in downtown Phoenix houses the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that Arizonans can vote on a ballot measure that would get rid of partisan primary elections in the state.

The ballot measure would create an “open primary system” allowing all voters to participate in primary elections and select a candidate of their choosing, regardless of party affiliation.

Critics filed a lawsuit claiming the campaign backing the measure did not collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The Make Elections Fair campaign collected 584,124 signatures to put Proposition 140 on the ballot, above the 383,923 required by state law.

However, a check of random samples by election officials found 409,474 of those signatures were valid, and critics of the measure filed a legal challenge alleging that the remaining batch of signatures included duplicates that should not be counted.

A retired judge appointed by the court invalidated over 37,000 duplicate signatures collected by the campaign, which could have dropped it below the number it needed to go before voters.

But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz dismissed the challenge anyway. He found the plaintiffs failed to prove their case before ballots went to the printer at the end of August, and further concluded his court lacked the authority to order election officials not to count votes for and against the measure once it was printed on ballots.

Moskowitz also found the state’s formula used by election officials to invalidate signatures is flawed and results in “double counting” of some invalid signatures. He ruled that violated the state constitution.

The plaintiffs in the case appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the lower court ruling, according to an order signed by Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer.

Timmer did not explain whether the high court agreed with some or all of Moskowitz’s reasons for dismissing the case. According to the order, an opinion explaining the Supreme Court’s order will come at a later date.

Chuck Couhglin, with the Make Elections Fair campaign, praised the ruling.

“We're thrilled that we finally have an opportunity to put open primaries before the Arizona voters,” he said. “That 32 days from now, I think we'll have the ability to free the electorate from the chains of partisan primaries and let voters finally be in charge of who gets elected.”

The proposition has run into opposition from both political parties, who mounted multiple legal challenges that failed to knock the measure off the ballot.

“We are disappointed in the ruling of the court on this matter,” Scot Mussi, president of the conservative Arizona Free Enterprise Club, said in a statement. “Our organization proved that the special interest groups attempting to hijack Arizona’s elections systems lacked the minimum number to qualify for the ballot to even be considered by voters in November.”

Coughlin acknowledged that the prolonged litigation has a “dampening” effect on his campaign’s ability to fundraise heading into the general election. However, he said the campaign made a significant investment in advertising this week and has seen an influx of dollars from its donor base, including a multi-million dollar investment by Unite America, a group that invests in non-partisan election reform efforts.

“There will be resources to execute a campaign,” Coughlin said.

Wayne Schutsky is a broadcast field correspondent covering Arizona politics on KJZZ. He has over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on local communities in Arizona and the state Capitol.
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