Arizona Supreme Court: Soros-Backed Ballot Measure to Roll Back Election Law Can’t be on Ballot
A ballot measure backed by billionaire George Soros will not be on November’s ballot in Arizona after the state’s Supreme Court ruled the measure didn’t have enough signatures.
The Aug. 26 ruling upheld one hours earlier from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Mikitish, who said that the initiative was disqualified because not enough valid signatures were gathered.
Mikitish said the measure was lacking 1,458 signatures, KPNX-TV reported. Just one day earlier, he said the campaign had 2,281 extra signatures. The update came after the Arizona Supreme Court ordered him to outline how he reached the latter number.
The state’s top court said that it affirmed Mikitish’s ruling and would issue a written opinion detailing its reasoning “in due course.”
The initiative, Proposition 210, needed 237,645 signatures to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot. Backers submitted 475,290 signatures, but tens of thousands were rejected during a review by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, and others were deemed invalid by county officials.
The initiative is now removed from the ballot, according to Hobbs’ office.
Hobbs had certified the initiative on Aug. 23, based on a random sample of the signatures.
Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections led the campaign, backed by several Soros-funded groups such as the Open Society Foundation.
Changes to Election Rules
The measure (pdf) would prevent the state legislature from overturning presidential election results, override a Republican-passed bill that imposed stricter requirements on an early voting list, and decriminalize turning in another person’s ballot.
“After a hard fought battle to ensure that Arizonans have voting rights in our great state, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that we will not be on the ballot for this November,” Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections said in a statement. “The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the voices of Arizonans do not matter.”
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