Open Primary Appeal Reaches Arizona Supreme Court

image
Created: 10 Aug, 2012
Updated: 13 Oct, 2022
2 min read

open-primary

Opening briefs are due today in the Arizona Supreme Court appeal case for supporters and opponents of the Open Elections/Open Government initiative. The challenge comes after a Superior Court judge found the ballot measure violated Arizona's separate amendment rule by combining the issues of a non-partisan open primary and public financing of party elections.

The issue at hand is whether a key clause in the initiative language which specifies party officers may be elected, “but no such procedures shall be paid for or subsidized using public funds“, is a separate issue from open primaries, warranting its own ballot measure and thus violating a constitutional rule against "log-rolling".

From the perspective of the Open Elections/Open Government Act supporters, the finance issue is a natural outcome from implementation of a new open primary system. In non-partisan elections, they argue, the taxpayers should not be expected to continue funding elections for party officer seats, like precinct leaders.

"If the initiative passes, it is entirely up to how they would like to run elections. They can gather signatures, set up online voting, hold a convention," says Open Government committee member and co-author of the Open Elections/Open Government Act, Karen Schroeder. "The key point is Arizona independents should not have to pay for that."

"1 in 3 Arizona voters are independents. It's very unfair to expect those voters to fund partisan primary elections," she adds.

The appeal process in Arizona's Supreme Court will be expedited, with a decision expected by the end of the month.

Architects of the initiative always expected a court challenge from stanch opponents of an open primary, especially from the political parties. It is a shrewd move, as Schroeder predicts legal fees for the other side will likely run $50-$100,000, as opposed to $1 million or $2 million spent on a fall campaign against the measure.

"They knew they had to try to block us in court because they realize what we are doing is very popular. It's overwhelmingly supported by voters," says Schroeder.

More Choice for San Diego

The court's ruling will be an all-or-nothing deal. There is no avenue to excise or amend the initiative at this point. Arizona requires the language of ballot measures to be included and available while collecting signatures. Any changes would invalidate previously gathered signatures, which the group spent months and a substantial amount of money to achieve.

Ironically, had the Open Elections/Open Government Act been legislatively referred, Arizona's lawmakers would be permitted to fix it. Regular citizens, on the other hand, do not have that luxury.

Yet, if the court decides to rule unfavorably for Open Elections/Open Government, organizers are undeterred on the need for reform of the system.

"It's not unusual for initiatives to need more than one election cycle to be successful," says Schroeder, adding in the worst case scenario, "We learn from that and come back next election cycle."

"We're not going anywhere. This is an extremely important issue," she says.

Latest articles

voters at the ballot box.
4 Principles of Change Open Primary Advocates Must Embrace
This was a big year for the open primaries movement. Seven state-level campaigns and one municipal. Millions of voters declaring their support for open primaries. New leaders emerging across the country. Primary elections for the first time at the center of the national reform debate....
23 Dec, 2024
-
5 min read
House Speaker Mike Johnson
GOP vs GOP: Party Fragmentation in the New Congress
Shawn and Dan dive into the fragmentation within both parties, Elon Musk's entrance as a Republican power broker, and a recent poll showing a surprisingly high level of support for Donald Trump among people who voted for Jill Stein....
23 Dec, 2024
-
1 min read
Young person voting.
2024 Recap: Lessons Learned from the Successes and Failures of Statewide Primary Reform
In 2024, a historic number of statewide initiatives appeared on the ballot to open primary elections to all voters and candidates. Most of the initiatives failed, but reformers were successful in Washington DC. ...
19 Dec, 2024
-
2 min read