Update 11-25-2024: With all ballots finally counted and the election canvassed, Proposition 140 failed to pass at the ballot box. Nearly 60% of voters made their voice heard with a resounding NO! on Prop 140, rejecting this terrible amendment and preserving the integrity of Arizona elections. While this is a great victory, voters must remain vigilant as it is likely something similar will pop up again in the future. You can view the unofficial results here: Arizona Election Results
Update 10-5-2024: Despite evidence of forty thousand duplicate signatures, the Arizona Supreme Court has dismissed the challenge to Proposition 140, arguing that they could not order election officials to disregard votes cast for it. If passed, this proposition would bring California style ranked-choice voting to Arizona and take away the power of the voters to determine who appears on the ballot, instead handing that power the secretary of state.
Gina Swoboda, Executive Director of the Voter Reference Foundation Commented: “Prop 140 would be an absolute disaster for the state of Arizona, it will take us in the opposite direction away from transparency, and bring in an opaque system based on an algorithm that throws away peoples votes. Ranked choice voting is a disaster everywhere it has been tried, let’s hope Arizona decides to not travel down that road.”
Update 9-16-2024: Voter reference foundation is grateful to the court for accepting our 2nd amicus brief on the motion for reconsideration, we look forward to a speedy resolution on this case.
See the related documents below:
Amicus Brief
Motion for Reconsideration
Aug 22, 2024: There has been a major development on our last post regarding Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in Arizona.
The Arizona Supreme Court unanimously remands the case back to the lower court.
VRF and Executive Director Gina Swoboda’s argument was upheld- the lower court botched the clear and convincing standard and got the rule of evidence wrong. The exhibit of 40 thousand signatures cis to be admitted and the judge has to review them and decide.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Update: An important note, the justices explicitly stated “There is no statutory directive that a court resolve an election challenge like this one before the ballot printing deadline.” This is incredibly important because it means the ballot printing deadline cannot block the case from proceeding without resolution. Order 5242401
View the order here