Ray Stern
Arizona Republic
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that the No Labels Party can stay on the 2024 Arizona ballot, for now, but left open a channel for Democrats to keep fighting against the independent movement they see as a threat.
“This is an important win for American democracy,” the group said in a statement by its national co-chair, Benjamin Chavis Jr., and former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who serves as No Labels’ director of ballot integrity. “The court’s decision to uphold the will of these voters and the laws and system protecting their rights sends a powerful message about respecting the choices of citizens and safeguarding their democratic rights.”
The centrist No Labels was founded in 2010 as a political organization but is now recognized as a party in Arizona and six other states. Its leaders plan to give ballot access to a third-party presidential candidate if voters have no other choices but President Biden and Donald Trump.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes granted official recognition to the party in early March after backers turned in more than 41,000 valid voter signatures. The Arizona Democratic Party filed a lawsuit a few weeks later, alleging technical problems with the group’s signature-gathering process. It sought to invalidate Fontes’ verification of the party and stop it from appearing on a ballot in any Arizona county.
The complaint states bluntly that the Democratic party will be “directly harmed by the unlawful recognition of No Labels because it will make it more difficult to elect Democratic Party candidates.”
Democrats and political observers have said that a No Labels presidential candidate likely would siphon votes from Biden, giving Trump or another Republican an edge in next year’s election.
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