Watch: Debate on partisan primaries in Arizona
Sep 26, 2024, 5:56 PM | Updated: 6:06 pm
PHOENIX — The debate on partisan primaries in Arizona was held on Sept. 26.
Paul Johnson, Prop 140 co-chair and ex-Phoenix mayor, and Brennan A.R. Bowen, associate with the firm Holtzman Vogel, squared off in the debate.
Proposition 140, a citizen-initiated ballot measure, would create open primaries in Arizona.
Chuck Coughlin, president and CEO of the political consulting firm Highground Inc., 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.
Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, believes the passage of Prop 140 would 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.
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.
Voters will have their say in the Nov. 5 election.
