Arizona, we have a problem. Apparently, the group behind Proposition 140—a ballot initiative aimed to bring California-style elections to our state—got very creative in their signature gathering efforts. In fact, you could say that in many ways, they excelled in duplicating their work. And that’s exactly why Prop 140 should be invalidated.
Back in July, the special interests behind the idea to bring jungle primaries and ranked choice voting to Arizona submitted signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State to qualify the so-called “Make Elections Fair Act” for the November General Election. Just a couple weeks later, a lawsuit was filed after it was determined that a large portion of their signatures were collected in violation of state law. And late last week, we received some good news. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the signature challenge lawsuit against Prop 140—which was facing a potential deadline due to the printing of ballots—may continue to ensure that the 40,000 duplicate signatures submitted by the Prop 140 committee are examined and removed from the final tally.
Yes, you read that right. The group that supposedly wants to “make elections fair” is content to do so by counting duplicate signatures (i.e. voters that signed more than once). What does that say about the true nature of this initiative?
Of the 40,000 duplicates that were included when the Prop 140 Committee submitted their signatures to the Secretary of State, around 250 people had signed five or more times. And one individual signed 15 times! Each of those signatures were included in the final tabulation by the Arizona Secretary of State. But here’s the real kicker. The lawyers for Prop 140 continue to deny, without evidence, that any of these signatures are duplicates.
This is outrageous. Just look at the evidence for yourself. This isn’t a debate about dubious matches or concerns of same family members with the same name being confused as a duplicate. All the duplicates submitted to be removed were the same name and same address that aligned with what was on the voter file. Under state law, you are only allowed to sign a petition once, so they should have been removed. Instead, thousands of people were allowed to sign the initiative petition sheets multiple times, and those signatures were counted.
But that’s all a part of the plan. The special interests behind the “Make Elections Fair Act” know that if these duplicate signatures are removed, the measure will lack the minimum number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot. That’s why they refuse to provide any evidence. Instead, they have relied on a strategy of obstruction to run out the clock and get Prop 140 on the ballot.
Thankfully, the Arizona Supreme Court made it right. It ordered that since ballots were being printed as of August 23—the same day its decision was handed down—the proposition should still be included on the ballot. However, the Court did warn that if Prop 140 lacks the required number of signatures due to the duplicates, an injunction would be issued to prohibit any votes from being counted for this specific measure. And we’re confident that after the 40,000 duplicate signatures are removed, it will be clear. Prop 140 should’ve never been on the ballot in the first place because the people of Arizona don’t want to follow in California’s footsteps with jungle primaries or ranked choice voting.
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