AZ Open Primary, Rank Choice Voting Initiative Challenged In Court

AZ Open Primary, Rank Choice Voting Initiative Challenged In Court

By Matthew Holloway |

On Friday, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) filed a lawsuit against the State of Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and the ‘Make Elections Fair’ political committee. The group is challenging the initiative to place open primaries, ranked choice voting, and the elimination of public funding in partisan elections on the November ballot as a single item. The AZFEC, along with three co-plaintiffs, is contesting the constitutionality of The Make Elections Fair Arizona Act, on the basis that it violates the Arizona Constitution’s “Separate Amendment Rule,” which prohibits multiple constitutional amendments from being combined into a single ballot measure.

In a press release, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club explained, “If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act would radically change how Arizonans select and approve candidates for public office, essentially copying the California voting system.”

Broken down under the premise of the “Separate Amendment Rule,” the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act constitutes twelve separate amendments according to the AZFEC. The act touches three disparate areas of Arizona election law, directly amends four different sections of the Arizona Constitution, and adds an entirely new section, whole cloth.

Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club said in the release, “In their rush to undermine the will of Arizona voters for future elections, the special interests that drafted this measure ignored our laws and our Constitution. This egregious disregard for law and order exudes arrogance from these parties and should disqualify their measure from the November ballot.”

In the text of AZFEC’s complaint, attorneys for the organization cited, “Article XXI, Section 1 of the Arizona Constitution, which states that “[i]f more than one proposed amendment is submitted at any election, the proposed amendments shall be submitted in such a manner that the electors may vote for or against such proposed amendments separately.” They added that, in past precedence, the Arizona Supreme Court has upheld that “the purpose of the single-subject rule is to eliminate the ‘pernicious practice of “log-rolling,'” whereby voters are ‘forced, in order to secure the enactment of the proposition which [they] consider[] the most important, to vote for others of which [they] disapprove[],’” the process of packaging a  proposition the voters might support with others they may not.

As detailed in the release, even the drafter’s website readily acknowledged that the initiative included multiple amendments in the no longer online section: “Initiative Language” by presenting the amendments in four distinct categories in a format showing each issue as a “Current Problem” and a solution labeled “MAKE IT FAIR.”

ARIZONA FREE ENTERPRISE CLUB V. STATE OF ARIZONA and ADRIAN FONTES §104  ( About Page, MAKE ELECTIONS FAIR ARIZONA, https://www.makeelectionsfairaz.com/about (last visited July 24, 2024).

ARIZONA FREE ENTERPRISE CLUB V. STATE OF ARIZONA and ADRIAN FONTES §104  ( About Page, MAKE ELECTIONS FAIR ARIZONA, https://www.makeelectionsfairaz.com/about (last visited July 24, 2024).

In the complaint, the plaintiffs appeal for relief in the form of a declaration from the court that the initiative is in violation of the Arizona State Constitution, and a request for a mandamus order to compel Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to carry out his “nondiscretionary duty to comply with the Separate Amendment Rule set forth in Article XXI, Section 1 of the Arizona Constitution.”

As reported by the Arizona Mirror, the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act has already been the subject of a legal battle between the Make Elections Fair Arizona political action committee and Arizona Legislative leaders, House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen, regarding the descriptive language of the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

The description in question reads, in part, that the proposition, “would amend the Arizona Constitution to: 1. Allow for the use of voter rankings at all elections held in this state to determine which candidate received the highest number of legal votes,” continuing to break down the revisions to the primary election and general election procedures.

Attorneys for the PAC complain in the lawsuit, “By beginning with the changes the Initiative permits regarding the use of voter rankings, the adopted analysis improperly amplifies those permitted changes and improperly understates the Initiative’s required changes to the primary-election procedures.” They suggest that this is misleading.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

Copying California’s Election System In Arizona Is An Insane Idea

Copying California’s Election System In Arizona Is An Insane Idea

By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |

This fall, the people of Arizona will have a number of critical decisions to make about the future of our state. But one initiative may be the most important issue facing voters in November.

Earlier this month, the special interests behind a plan to bring California-style jungle primaries and ranked choice voting to Arizona submitted signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State to qualify the so-called “Make Elections Fair Act” for the November General Election. If approved, this proposed constitutional amendment would not only make our elections unfair, but it would radically change how Arizonans select and approve candidates for public office in several alarming ways.

The Measure Grants One Politician Too Much Power

It’s never a good idea to give one politician total power over anything—especially an election—but that’s exactly what the Make Elections (Un)Fair Act would do. The measure grants one politician, in this case the Secretary of State, the power to determine how many candidates will appear on the general election ballot for each race. On top of that, the Secretary of State could even decide how many candidates advance in his or her own race…

>>> CONTINUE READING >>> 

Arizona GOP Coffers Healthy Ahead Of 2024 Elections

Arizona GOP Coffers Healthy Ahead Of 2024 Elections

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona Republicans are gearing up for the November General Election.

Last week, the Arizona Republican Party announced that it had “set another record-breaking fundraising quarter under the leadership of Chairman DeWit.”

The press release transmitted from the AZGOP highlighted that state Republicans had “raised $670,345.91 from over 7,564 individual donors” in the 2023 fourth quarter.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, AZGOP Chairman Jeff DeWit said, “As the AZGOP’s leadership, we are fully committed to core Republican values. We are tirelessly raising funds and actively recruiting dedicated Republicans to run for office. Our focus includes increasing republican voter registration, fiercely protecting election integrity, opposing bad initiatives like ranked choice voting, and building a massive get-out-the-vote machine. We are thankful to our wonderful donors who recognize the impactful efforts of the AZGOP, and we are working hard to use those dollars as effectively and efficiently as possible.”

The AZGOP noted that the 2023 Q4 fundraising haul was significantly higher than quarters for “similar periods in past election cycles, subtracting Republican National Committee transfers to show actual donation numbers.” Its news release asserted that the party brought in $186,621.59 in the fourth quarter of 2015, and $340,436.39 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

DeWit and his team will need every possible penny from donors in advance of the onslaught of significant campaigns later this year. Arizona is a high stakes swing state in the 2024 Presidential contest, and the eventual Republican nominee will likely require the state’s 11 electoral votes if he (or she) is to capture the White House. The Grand Canyon State will also feature one of the nation’s most competitive U.S. Senate races, and both major political parties will be vying for control of the state legislature, where Republicans hold very narrow majorities in both chambers. In addition, there may very well be multiple ballot measures for voters to consider in November (one of which is an abortion amendment), that could permanently change the state’s DNA.

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

AZ Open Primary, Rank Choice Voting Initiative Challenged In Court

Group Hopes To “Outlaw Partisan Primaries”

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona will be at the forefront of the presidential campaign come the 2024 general election, but there’s one contest that might take on more importance.

On Monday, Save Democracy Inc., an Arizona-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, gave a preview of an election-oriented voter initiative that could be coming the state’s way in November 2024. They tweeted, “Coming Soon: A statewide initiative campaign aiming to outlaw partisan primaries.”

The post shared that this initiative would prohibit “the use of taxpayer funds to pay for private political party primaries; that all candidates (would) appear on the same ballot and compete under the same rules; and that all registered voters (would) use the same ballot to vote.”

Save Democracy Arizona’s website asks and answers the question, “Why do we need reform?” by alleging that “the current system is not working,” that “we need an even playing field,” and that “Arizona has a tradition of open elections.” On their home page, they write, “At a time when many Americans are concerned about the health of our election system, our coalition was formed to educate voters about how Arizona’s voting system currently operates. Join us as we explore alternative primary structures that could make our system work better for ALL Arizonans.”

The group’s efforts have already caught the eye of longtime Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts, who wrote a piece about the likely potential for action on this front. She tweeted, “Coming soon to a neighborhood near you: A statewide initiative campaign aiming to outlaw partisan primaries. Makes total sense here, in the state where independents now outnumber Republicans and Democrats.”

In her column, Roberts elaborated on what voters might see over the coming year, opining, “(This group) has scrapped plans for an initiative to bring ranked-choice voting to Arizona. Instead, it is preparing an initiative asking voters to outlaw taxpayer-financed partisan primary elections. The Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs would be directed to develop a new system that puts all candidates on one primary-election ballot. With one set of rules to get there.”

The Roberts’ piece grabbed the attention of Representative Austin Smith, who has been fighting against Ranked Choice Voting since the day he entered the Arizona Legislature – and may be one of the significant reasons why there may not be a direct attempt to bring Ranked Choice Voting to Arizona via a November 2024 ballot initiative.

Smith tweeted, “Two competing initiatives!? Fun! I look forward to helping Arizonans pass HCR 2033 protecting Arizona’s primary election system and keeping the entrenched consultant class out of picking our representatives. Looks like the Arizona Freedom Caucus is effective yet again like Laurie Roberts said.”

The freshman legislator sponsored HCR 2033, which sent a question to voters on an amendment to the state constitution to “determine that a Legislature-enacted direct primary law supersedes any contrary or inconsistent provision of any charter, law, ordinance, rule, resolution or policy of any city and modifies nominee requirements for a direct primary election.”

The vote in the Senate was split down party lines – 16-13, with one Democrat (Senator Miranda) not voting. Earlier in the session, the Arizona House passed the resolution – also along party lines – 31-28, with one Democrat (Representative Shah) not voting. The legislature then transmitted the resolution to the Arizona Secretary of State.

After the Senate passed the resolution, Smith wrote, “This constitutional referral to protect our party primaries and girding us against radical experimental election systems that disenfranchise voters such as ‘ranked choice voting.’”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

Border Pictures Mysteriously Disappear From Arizona Representative’s Twitter Feed

Border Pictures Mysteriously Disappear From Arizona Representative’s Twitter Feed

By Daniel Stefanski|

An Arizona Republican lawmaker’s videos from a recent border visit appeared to have been deleted from Twitter.

Last week, freshman Representative Austin Smith traveled to Cochise County and stopped by the border to gain first-hand knowledge about the crisis created by the Biden Administration’s policies. He posted two pictures and two videos from his visit to his Twitter account, writing, “Eye opening experience down here on the border. Joe Biden and Mayorkas are derelict in their duty to our country. Absolutely shameful. God bless the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department. They are doing everything they can to keep Arizona and the United States safe. FINISH THE DANG WALL!”

Soon after his media went live to the social media site, the two videos seemed to have disappeared. AZ Free News viewed the post and observed that in place of the videos were the captions “This video has been deleted.”

Smith also noticed the deletion of his videos, sending a public message to Elon Musk to inquire why this had occurred.

He then reposted the videos on a separate thread, where they remain accessible to the public to view.

The videos Representative Smith published were generic commentaries about the state of the border according to his on-the-ground experience. In the first video, Smith is stationary by the border wall and talks about the number of ‘gotaways’ crossing into the country and the lack of Border Patrol agents around to detect and apprehend any illegal crossers in that area. He states that “the Biden Administration is truly derelict in its duty to protect the United States of America,” and he spends much of his time comparing and contrasting the differences in border security under the Trump and Biden Administrations. He also pleads with his viewers to make political changes with the presidency and the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election in order to effect real change at the border.

In the second video, Smith compares the size of walls before the Trump administration and from the Trump administration, showing that President Trump’s administration built taller infrastructure along the United States-Mexico border.

The first-year Arizona Representative was in Cochise County for the May 20th County Republican Club Lincoln Day Dinner, where he was the keynote speaker. Smith has quickly built out a profile for himself at the Arizona Legislature, focusing, in large part, on stopping Ranked Choice Voting from entering the state.

After the dinner, he tweeted a picture of him and his fiancée at the event, writing, “Thank you to the great grassroots of @realcochisegop for having @amyesamuel and I tonight! Fantastic group of southern Arizonans!”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.