Tucson’s Democrat Mayor, Regina Romero, is rallying her supporters to vote “No” on Proposition 140, a measure that seeks to introduce an open primary system and ranked-choice voting in Arizona. A broad coalition of political groups, spanning from Libertarians to Republicans, and even Democrats, have united against this dangerous proposition. Matthew Holloway of AZ Free News reports:
For Romero to find herself on the same side of an issue as some of these groups seems to indicate the profound impact the proposed changes would have on Arizona politics. Even the Libertarian Party of Arizona has lent its voice to oppose Prop 140, writing in a post to X that repeated an alert from the AZGOP, “The AZLP approves this message. Prop 140 could effectively kill third-party and independent candidates. Vote no!”
Proposition 140 is designed to consolidate power into the hands of political elites. It would allow the Secretary of State to unilaterally decide how many candidates advance from the primary election to the general election. This centralization of power, paired with the confusion and inefficiency that ranked-choice voting often creates, is a recipe for electoral disaster. Holloway outlines the risks in the AZ Free News article:
…[A] press release from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club warned that Prop 140 would do the following if enacted: “Allows one politician, the Arizona Secretary of State, to decide how many candidates qualify for the general election ballot for every single contest, including his or her own race… Will increase tabulation errors, create longer lines at the polls, and significantly delay election results.”
Prop 140 strips voters of genuine choices and shifts control to political insiders. Ranked-choice voting has proven to be confusing and error-prone, with long delays in election results and increased tabulation mistakes. Worse, by allowing a single politician to control which candidates make it to the ballot, Prop 140 undermines fair representation and makes it harder for outsiders, independents, and even third-party candidates to compete. In essence, Prop 140 rigs the system in favor of established political powers at the expense of Arizona voters.
Read the full story here.