The “Make Elections Fair Act” will ask voters to eliminate partisan primaries

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Arizona voters will be casting ballots in the 2024 primary election on July 30.

There will be races between Democrats and Republicans, Green and Libertarian, but one third of the state’s registered voters have no primary.

They’re Independents, by far the fastest growing party in Arizona.

Even though the numbers are growing rapidly, the primary election will be a contest between Democrats and Republicans for the most part.

But only about 15% to 20% of registered voters will participate.

That’s where the ballot initiative Make Elections Fair Act comes in.

Supporters gathered nearly 600,000 signatures, far more than the 383,000 valid signatures needed to get it on the ballot.

“600 is a cushion of 200,000 signatures which I think is this day and age is appropriate and necessary,” said former State Attorney General Terry Goddard. “But yeah, I think the response was very good.”

The goal of the Make Elections Fair Act is to replace partisan primaries with an open primary election.

“Because there’s a very small, usually very partisan people who vote in primaries, they tend to choose the most extreme choices,” Goddard said.

It’s that hyper-partisanship which has led to voter frustration in the process not just locally but up and down the ballot.

“So we end up with a legislature that R’s and D’s don’t talk to each other because, on both sides, it’s considered treasonous to talk to each other, or for heaven’s sake, ever compromise,” said Goddard.

What the Make Elections Fair Act, which would amend the Arizona Constitution, would do is allow everyone, including Independents, to participate in the election.

In 2000, there were about 400,000 registered others in Arizona, mostly thought to be Independents, far below Republicans and Democrats.

By 2008, the number of others had risen to 826,000, outpacing Democrats at the time.

By 2024, the number of others has risen to 1,300,000.

Even though they make up a third of the registered voters in Arizona, they don’t have a name other than ‘other.’

That’s a problem in partisan primaries which forces Independents to choose one or the other.

“I have the right as an Independent voter to request either a Republican or Democratic ballot and it forces me to vote a straight ticket,” said Chuck Coughlin, CEO of Highground, Inc., which organized the campaign. That doesn’t make sense, put everybody on the ballot.”

An open primary would allow all candidates names to be placed on the ballot, “whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, Greens or Blues and you get to choose the top two, or the top three or four, and they will be in the finals in the general election,” said Goddard.

There will be pushback for the constitutional amendment. Opposing forces will first challenge the signatures, then the initiative itself.

State lawmakers passed bill HCR 2033 last year which will be on the ballot to oppose fair elections this year but even some GOP members were not so sure ate the time.

“As I’ve studied this a little further, I’m not convinced it’s the best decision for us to put to the voters,” said District 1 Republican Ken Bennett.

But it still passed on a party line vote. All Republicans for it and all Democrats against it, which is a perfect example of what fair elections supporters say they’re talking about.

Fair elections say their initiative could put a chill on that.

“The one thing it will do is saying, no more partisan primaries,” Goddard said. “In other words, every candidate runs in every election and every voter gets to vote in every election.”

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