Proposition 133 and Proposition 140 will shape the future of elections in Arizona

PHOENIX — This November, voters will have their say on two ballot propositions that will decide the future of how elections will be run in Arizona.

Proposition 133 would keep elections the same as how they are now, with candidates from each party competing in a partisan primary with the winner heading to a general election. Independents are able to vote in either party’s primary, but they must choose which one.

Chuck Coughlin, president and CEO of the political consulting firm Highground Inc., is part of the effort to change that.

“What if me as a voter … wanted to vote for a Democrat for Congress and a Republican running for county supervisor? I can’t do that today. That’s not freedom. That’s not fair,” Coughlin said.

Why are Proposition 133 and Proposition 140 significant?

Coughlin is running the campaign for Proposition 140, a citizen-initiated ballot measure.

It’s essentially the opposite of Prop 133 because it would create open primaries in Arizona.

Coughlin told KTAR News 92.3 FM that the current rules are unfair to both independent and unaffiliated voters and candidates. Since independent candidates aren’t included in primaries, the signature requirements to get on the November ballot are much tougher.

Coughlin said 80% of congressional and legislative general elections are either unopposed or uncompetitive due to how districts are created. Prop 140 would put all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, on the same primary ballot.

“What we want to do is create competition. We want to create more choices for Arizona voters, better choices for Arizona voters, and create a competitive election environment in November,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin also points to historic low voter turnout in primaries as one of his main issues with the current system.

“Right now, in a primary, roughly 15% of Democrats show up and roughly 20% of Republicans show up. What we’re allowing today is that 35% of the electorate is making 100% of the decisions in all of these districts,” Coughlin said.

What would happen in Proposition 140 passes?

Who makes it to the general election won’t be decided unless Prop 140 passes. The proposal leaves it up to the state legislature to decide a process where either the top two or top five vote-getters move on to November.

At that point, voters would rank their top choices. If their first choice doesn’t have enough votes to win, the candidate is eliminated, and their votes would then transfer to the voter’s second choice. This continues until there’s a majority.

Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, believes this will bring more problems than solutions.

“It presents profound difficulties for election administration. It makes the elections into a much more complicated system, which lacks transparency that voters demand. It makes the tabulation process considerably slower and more difficult …” Snead said.

That is the opposite of what voters want, according to Snead, which is simpler, more efficient elections, where ballots get counted quickly.

Snead said ranked-choice voting could also create a system where candidates aren’t focused on winning the election outright.

“You wind up creating a dynamic where candidates will be appealing to second and third place votes, because that’s how you win,” Snead said.

And while some believe that’s a positive since candidates won’t be able to just appeal to their party’s base, Snead doesn’t agree.

“The candidates will want to appeal to different demographics, but they will still need someone to run negative ads, so they will go to what we call independent expenditure groups, dark money groups, and have them run the ads in lieu of the candidate,” Snead said.

While proponents of Prop 140 believe open primaries will empower voters, Snead believes they would do the opposite.

“Voters have a First Amendment right to freedom of association and part of that also involves also forming political parties that can then nominate candidates that will advocate for their views, for their vision, for the things that they care about,” Snead said.

With open primaries, there is a chance that only one party is represented during November. Snead said that would deprive a large portion of the electorate from having a choice if they don’t belong to that party.

If Props 133 and 140 both pass, there are questions over which one becomes the law of the land.

“According to the Arizona Constitution, if there are two ballot propositions that conflict…the measure with the most ‘yes’ votes supersedes the other on any point of conflict,” KTAR Legal Analyst Barry Markson said.

If that happens, Markson expects there to be pushback from those who support the losing proposition.

“It definitely could result in litigation, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. My expectation would be that the now-losing proposition would say that although part of the referendum was in conflict with the other, not the entire thing was. They may try to have part of their initiative stay,” Markson said.

This wouldn’t be the first time one of these propositions faced litigation. Prop 140 is in the midst of an ongoing court case filed by The Free Enterprise Club that calls into question thousands of petition signatures that qualified it for the ballot.

Most recently a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed the case finding that the method used to invalidate signatures was flawed, the case was not timely enough to be resolved before ballots were printed, and the Court ruled that the proposition will head to a vote in November.

Markson expects the ruling to be appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. He said if the Court reverses the decision after the election, it could overturn the outcome of the election altogether.

“Where we are right now is this will be voted on by the people,” Markson said. “The last court ruling makes this a valid proposition, and unless the Supreme Court overrules that decision as well, how the people vote in November will decide whether we have open primaries in Arizona.”