Update: Judge Says March Preferential Election Could Be Challenged

By: Lorin McLain

The legal fallout from Arizona’s presidential preference election is far from over. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge says its well within the rights of a Tucson man to challenge the results following last month’s voting debacle. Now it remains to be seen whether John Brakey can prove that the problems that left thousands of voters standing in line for hours merits voiding the results.

Arizona’s Assistant Attorney General James Driscoll MacEachron defended Secretary of State Michele Reagan on Monday, telling Judge David Gass that while state law allows someone to contest the outcome of political primaries between candidates, there is no authority to challenge the state’s presidential preference election. MacEachron argues the presidential preference election is not a primary in the traditional sense.

Still, Brakey’s lawyer, Michael Kielsky, insists irregularities during the March 22nd vote should void the results. Kielsky says the problems could have left up to 100,000 people unable to cast a vote and the problems amount to the equivalent of fraud. A retired attorney, who worked at a South Phoenix polling place with a significant minority population, told Gass her polling place ran out of ballots for several congressional districts and was giving voters ballots from other districts. Democrats partially assign delegates based on who wins each of the districts. The witness, Diane Post, said the county’s electronic poll books also listed many voters registered for parties the voters said were wrong.

It’s unclear how a decision by Gass could change the results. The lawsuit isn’t seeking a new state-run election. If Gass voided the vote, it could be up to the party officials to decide how to assign their delegates to their respective national conventions. MacEachron contends that if disenfranchising voters is the argument, then everyone is disenfranchised if the results are voided.

Meanwhile, a Republican effort to repeal Arizona’s Presidential Preference Election remains held-up in the state Senate. The Senate version of the bill calls to end the PPE starting in 2020. The bill leaves it up to the parties to how they select delegates, and could give them the option of holding their own PPE’s, hold caucuses, or choose some other system. A House version of the bill passed the House in February and also hangs in limbo with the Senate. House Democrats are largely against it and want an amendment to allow Independents to participate in PPE’s, and to end state funding for them in 2020. The latest update is that Governor Ducey has indicated he’s for letting indies vote in the PPE, which means the bill could die in its current form.