By Reagan Priest | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Secretary of State Adrian Fontes erred when he approved a party name change
- Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Greg Como said Fontes allowed a “political bait and switch”
- Fontes will not participate in an appeal, given fast approaching election season
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes did not have the authority to grant the Arizona Independent Party name change, according to a Maricopa County Superior Court judge.
In a decision handed down March 25, Judge Greg Como said Fontes permitted a “political bait and switch” when he approved a name change request from the No Labels Party, which attempted to rebrand itself as the Arizona Independent Party. The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, the Arizona Democratic Party and the Arizona Republican Party sued Fontes and AIP over the name change in December.
Como argued that parties should have to go through the same petition gathering process used to get a party on the ballot to change the party’s name. Otherwise, voters who sign petitions to get one party on the ballot could suddenly find themselves registered members of the “Arizona Nazi Party” or the “Arizona Anarchists.”
“A party can gather signatures using an innocuous sounding name and then change it to something completely different,” Como wrote. “If the Secretary is to have such power, it must be prescribed by the Arizona Constitution or state statutes. It is not.”
