By AZ Mirror
The Arizona Supreme Court sided with Arizona legislators over a trial court judge who concluded their description of a ballot proposition to end partisan primaries was “misleading,” overturning the lower court’s ruling.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Iyer Julian previously ruled that a legislative panel responsible for writing summaries of ballot measures that are sent to every Arizona voter wrote a description of Proposition 140, a citizen initiative also known as the Make Elections Fair Act, that was intentionally misleading.
If voters approve it in November, the measure would 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.