Arizona voters are entitled to decide if they want to scrap the current partisan system of nominating candidates, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.
In a brief order, the Supreme Court justices overturned a lower court ruling which concluded that the initiative to create a wide-open primary was constitutionally flawed. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain had said it illegally dealt with more than one subject. The justices did not explain their decision, promising details later.
Friday's ruling is a significant victory for proponents of the change which would have all candidates from all political stripes run against each other for statewide, legislative, county supervisor posts, and overrule Tucson's partisan primary for mayor and city council. Then the top two would face off in the November general election.
But the Supreme Court action does not mean the "Open Government/Open Elections" initiative actually will be on the November ballot.
County election officials are still reviewing a random sample of initiative petition sheets to verify that there are at least 259,213 valid signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. And some preliminary numbers from the state's largest county suggest the petition drive could fall short.
Matt Roberts, spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office, said after clearly invalid petitions were removed, that left more than 358,000 signatures. And a 33 percent failure rate, if that proves to be the final number, it would leave just about 240,000 valid signers, short of the 259,213 needed to qualify for the ballot.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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