Voters will decide if Arizona should have open primary elections, judge rules

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A ballot proposition to end partisan primaries in Arizona gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, a judge ruled Thursday.

Proposition 140 , a citizen initiative also known as the Make Elections Fair Act, would amend the Arizona Constitution to create an open primary system where all candidates for federal, state and local offices would face off in a single primary election instead of segregated partisan elections. Those primaries would also include candidates who are politically unaffiliated.

All registered voters would be able to choose from all the candidates in the primary, and the top vote-getters would advance to the general election, even if they don’t represent different parties.

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“The committee looks forward to defending the trial court’s decision before the Arizona Supreme Court, and is eager to focus our efforts on Prop 140’s passage in November,” Sarah Smallhouse, the chair of the political action committee backing the ballot initiative, said in a press release.

Prop. 140 still faces a legal challenge from opponents to the measure who say it violates the state constitution’s single-subject rule for ballot initiatives. On Aug. 9, the same judge ruled that the initiative does not violate the state constitution’s single-subject rule.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz ruled Thursday that Prop. 140 had 536,216 valid signatures after the committee submitted more than 540,000. The minimum number of valid signatures for constitutional amendments to make it onto the ballot in 2024 is 383,923.

The committee also won another challenge recently in which a judge declared that language written by lawmakers describing the ballot initiative to voters was “ misleading .” That ruling can also be challenged to the Arizona Supreme Court.

Lawmakers have until Aug. 29 to submit new language to the court for approval.

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