Arizona Supreme Court keeps voting rights measure off ballot

[Polybius]

Source: Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — A voter initiative rolling back Republican-backed election law changes and expanding voting access will not appear on the November ballot, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday, issuing a final death knell after an on-again off-again series of court rulings.

The high court decision upholds a lower court ruling issued hours earlier, in which Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Mikitish rejected thousands of signatures and said the initiative fell 1,458 signatures short of the 238,000 required to qualify for the ballot. The judge’s Friday ruling reversed his own decision from a day earlier after the Supreme Court asked him to explain how he concluded that the initiative had enough valid signatures to qualify.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is the last word in a weeks-long battle between initiative backers and opponents. Critics, led by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, succeeded in knocking off enough qualifying signatures for the measure to barely fail.

Lawyers supporting the initiative had urged the Supreme Court to allow the measure to reach voters, saying Mikitish violated the law by letting challengers throw out more signatures than allowed.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/elections-arizona-voting-phoenix-bda804312e77b4f4ddcea08ddb21c975

[BOSSHOG]

1. The Arizona Supremes said, "are you fucking kidding us?"

Did you we what happened in Kansas WHEN PEOPLE WERE “ALLOWED” to vote?

[Traildogbob]

2. And they

Are shitting their pants over Biden calling them “semi” Natzee’s.

[thucythucy]

6. They're just pissed about the "semi" part.

"There ain't nothin' 'semi' about it!"

[mountain grammy]

3. Damn..

[DemocraticPatriot]

4. Oh YES, I'll just BET it "fell short"----- NOT!

More likely the judge succumbed to death threats from MAGA Trumptards....


This saddens me. I have spent much time in Arizona, living there the most other than my home state of Michigan. My best friend lives there.... He had been a Republican, but after too many years of listening to talk radio, he told me he was giving that up, and also now hated politics. He was a history teacher, at Jr. High, high school and college levels, before rising to a college job overseeing curriculim.


Arizona Supreme Court?? Meet me in Tombstone... in a back-lot next to the Fly Photographic studio.... behind the OK Corral...

[Novara]

5. "knocking off enough qualifying signatures for the measure to barely fail."

If they're qualifying signatures, there's no reason to remove them.

In other words, WE DON'T WANT THIS LEGAL BALLOT INITIATIVE TO SUCCEED has been blessed by their court, legality of signatures be damned.

And the Dems are afraid of "stacking" courts? This is what happens when you allow the other side to stack them but you're too afraid to touch them. You cede governance to their side. And they will ratfuck every single thing they can in their pursuit of raw power.

[geretogo]

7. The Nazi's just hate democracy .

[drumpfsucks]

8. I NEVER heard about the initiative.....

I do watch local news. I never knew about signatures NEEDED....
I would have driven anywhere around Phoenix to give MY signature on this important measure!!!

Wonder why there wasn't more "noise" about the initiative.

The State of Arizona is going to hell.

[kwolf68]

9. Voting

It's very simple. I know of NOT ONE SINGLE initiative Republicans have ever promoted to expand Democracy. Their go-to is to restrict, use "big government oppression" to tie up the process in red tape thus limiting the number of people who vote.

The right (at one time it was right wing DixieCrats) have ALWAYS been opposed to Democracy. Blacks not voting? Check. Women not voting? Check. Restrictions, regulations, no national holiday so we can participate in Democracy, no same-day registration. Nope, none of that. Everything and Anything to limit the workings of Democracy.

It's a farce that heavy blue areas are often constantly marred by ridiculous waiting lines, further limiting access to voting. Repukes in Georgia ACTUALLY concocting a law that would make it illegal to bring food or water to people standing in lines voting. I still can't believe that was real.

They make no bones about it, THEY DO NOT want people voting unless they are pretty sure those people are of their ilk, white, Republican. Check.

[Polybius]

10. "no national holiday so we can participate in Democracy"

We haven't exactly voted to bring that one to the floor either.