Judge Upholds Ballot Measure for Primary Elections

A pivotal ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz on September 19 has affirmed that Arizonans will have the opportunity to decide the fate of the current partisan primary system through Proposition 140.

Despite indications that 37,657 signatures supporting the proposition were duplicate entries, Judge Moskowitz determined that challenges to these signatures did not meet legal scrutiny by the ballot printing deadline at the end of August. Thus, he asserted that the challenges were moot.

This decision is likely to be contested in the Arizona Supreme Court. Judge Moskowitz anticipates this challenge and has outlined additional reasons for dismissing the case should the justices disagree with his initial rationale.

One significant point raised by Moskowitz pertains to the counting of valid signatures, alleging that the process improperly double-counted invalid signatures, lowering the valid count below the requisite 383,923 for ballot placement.

In a further precaution, Moskowitz expressed that if his previous arguments do not stand, he has a fallback explanation: he lacks the authority to prevent election officials from counting votes on the measure, as state law does not support such an order. He noted that this absence of authority may imply that legislative intent did not anticipate initiative challenges extending past the ballot printing deadline.

Scot Mussi, president of the Free Enterprise Club, which seeks to block the measure, criticized Moskowitz for bias, suggesting the judge has been predisposed to keep Proposition 140 on the ballot since a previous Supreme Court rebuke.

Mussi emphasized that Moskowitz’s recent ruling improperly altered the statutory method for validating signatures and called this move “radical” given that the statute had previously been upheld in 2022.

Conversely, Moskowitz clarified that the 2022 ruling did not address constitutional validity, aiming only to confirm the method of signature verification in that particular case.

Chuck Coughlin, a political consultant for the Make Elections Fair committee behind Proposition 140, praised the ruling, referring to it as a significant victory. He outlined that if approved, the measure would replace the current system of separate party primaries with a “jungle primary,” permitting all candidates and unaffiliated voters to compete in a single preliminary election.

The top two vote-getters would advance to the general election, irrespective of party affiliation. Additionally, the proposal allows for the Legislature to opt for the top five candidates to proceed to a runoff, integrating ranked-choice voting if adopted.