Judge Kicks Arizona Open Primary Initiative off the Ballot
By Chad Peace on 08/06/2012 in arizona, Arizona Open Primary, Mark Brian, open primary, Single Subject Rule with 2 CommentsRead Time: 1 - 2 minutes
In a shocking turn of events and after millions of dollars being spent getting a top-two Arizona open primary initiative on the ballot, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain kicked the initiative off the ballot for violating Arizona’s ‘single subject rule.’ The initiative included provisions that would ban the use of public monies to fund party committee elections.
“There is no good reason that a vote for or against that topic should be bundled with a vote on an open primary.” – Judge Mark Brian
It is important to note that the judge took the time to point out that he did not see any issues with regard to the top-two open primary issue itself. The sole issue before the court was whether the bill dealt with multiple issues; and it did.
IVN.us will be reporting on the Arizona Open Primary developing story in more detail tomorrow.





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2 Comments
Dan Richards
08.06.2012
@danrich
The same thing happened here in Oklahoma. We won the elections, got an open Primary, then two months later (I believe) a judge ruled it out. Judges I thought were not supposed to be able to do so, unless it violated the Constitution. This has no bearing on the Constitution so should not be allowed.
Shawn M. Griffiths
08.06.2012
@shawntx
The judge adhered to the state constitution, and the matter pertains to a state election. From what I understand this ‘single subject rule’ is not mentioned/referenced once, but twice in the AZ Constitution. The matter will no doubt go before the state Supreme Court. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.