By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona voters will likely have an opportunity to weigh in on the future of their election system in the upcoming November general election.
Last week, Make Elections Fair Arizona filed 584,124 signatures in an attempt to qualify for November’s ballot in the Grand Canyon State.
The group only needed 383,923 valid signatures to cross the threshold for qualification.
After filing for the ballot, Patrick DeConcini, a Cochair of Make Elections Fair Arizona, said, “Arizonans have a unique opportunity to reimagine our election system to promote more choices, better results, and a stronger state. The Make Elections Fair AZ initiative will create a better state for all Arizonans. We all have a role to play in shaping the future of our state, this is our chance.”
Another co-chair of the group, Beau Lane, added, “The party with the best solutions will thrive under this fair process. The Make Elections Fair Act directly addresses this market demand for more inclusive and effective political solutions.”
Scot Mussi, the President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and an outspoken opponent of the measure, released a statement, saying, “This fall, Arizonans will have a number of critical decisions to make about the future of our state, but this initiative may be the most important one facing voters. This initiative is nothing more than a California-style election scheme, which would give unilateral power to one politician to determine the candidates on our ballots.”
Mussi went on to say that the campaign to transform Arizona’s election system was “not fair [or] honest.” He said, “If it is determined that this measure did submit enough valid signatures, we will ensure voters know exactly how undemocratic and unfair these policies will be for future generations.”
The conservative policy advocate dubbed this effort as the “Make Elections (Un)Fair Act.”
In Mussi’s press statement, he shared information about what this constitutional amendment would do for the state, including:
- “Allows one politician, the Arizona Secretary of State, to decide how many candidates qualify for the general election ballot for every single contest, including his or her own race.
- “Would result in some races where candidates from only one political party appear on the general election ballot.
- “Would force voters to navigate two completely different voting systems on the same ballot, with some races requiring voters to rank candidates and others that do not.
- “Will increase tabulation errors, create longer lines at the polls and significantly delay election results.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.