Gov. Jan Brewer late Friday dropped a plan to hold a special session to present Arizona voters with a second ballot measure on proposed changes to election laws, according to a Brewer spokesman who said legislative leaders had changed their minds. Republican legislative leaders and Brewer earlier had agreed to hold a special session to consider a possible referendum that was a reaction to a recently filed initiative measure. The initiative measure would make major changes in how Arizona conducts primary elections. It will go on the November ballot if election officials determine that backers submitted enough petition signatures. Word of the planned special session surfaced earlier Friday, a day after initiative backers filed their petitions.
But Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said Friday evening that legislative leaders had a change of heart because they apparently couldn’t muster enough support from lawmakers for the referendum. “What is disappointing to the governor is that legislative leaders pledged that they would have the support to pass a referendum with this language,” he said. “But once she was prepared to do so they did a 180.”
The initiative proposal, which Benson said Brewer opposes, would have allowed all voters to cast votes for any primary election candidate. Also, only the two top finishers in the primary would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Currently, each party’s nominee advances to the general election. And only people registered with a party can vote in its party, though independents can pick any one party’s ballot in the primary election. Benson had said the referendum would have required that candidates list their party registrations, if any, on the ballot.
Full Article: TriValley Central.