‘HEARTBREAKING’

Arizona Supreme Court Says No to ‘Free and Fair Elections’ Ballot Measure

The measure, which would have checked the state Legislature’s ability to overturn a federal election, was thrown out—along with more than 200,000 petition signatures.

Arizona’s highest court affirmed a decision to bar a progressive ballot initiative that would have dramatically reformed the state’s election and campaign finance laws in an eleventh-hour decision, according to The New York Times. The measure sought, in part, to establish same-day voter registration and restrict the state Legislature’s ability to audit and challenge the result of a federal election. A drive on a petition to get the Arizona Free and Fair Elections Act on the November ballot had collected roughly 475,000 signatures—double the minimum of 237,645 needed. But challenges from Republicans who termed the legislation a “radical” threat to election integrity stymied its journey, leading Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Mikitish to re-crunch the numbers and declare that the petition had fallen short by 1,458 signatures on Friday. “This shows that the court is above the will of the people, and it’s heartbreaking,” a spokesperson for the Democrat-allied coalition of groups backing the measure told the Times on Tuesday. “And unfortunately, it reflects what we’ve seen on a national level, too.”