Homeless in Arizona

I don't know if Proposition 121 will make things any better.

The one bad thing about Prop 121 is it doesn't address how things will work if it it passed. The legislator will have to pass laws to define how Prop 121 will work, if it passes. And of course you can expect the legislator to rig those laws to favor the people in power.

Source

Leveling the playing field

Oct. 11, 2012 12:00 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Arizonans increasingly are rejecting the Republican and Democratic parties and registering with no affiliation. Yet elections are rigged for the two major parties, diminishing the voice of independent candidates and voters.

Proposition 121, the Open Elections/Open Government initiative, reshapes the process to fit the way voters are redefining themselves.

It is a dramatic move. But it is no more dramatic than the shift in voter-registration patterns. Nearly one-third of registered voters have rejected political labels. In the past 20 years, there has been a 185 percent increase in the number of Arizonans registering without party affiliation. Independents outnumber Democrats, and they are closing in on Republicans.

Yet our current election system treats independents as second-class citizens.

Consider:

• In order to get on the ballot, those running as a member of an established party need the signatures of 1 percent of their party's registered voters in the district in which they are running. Nonpartisan candidates need 3 percent of independent voters in their district.

• Partisan candidates compete in taxpayer-funded primary elections.

• Political parties get access to voter-registration lists for free.

Independents have to pay substantial sums for the lists, which help a candidate target campaign literature or voter outreach.

• Political parties can get a bulk-rate break on mailings, reducing costs by 40 percent. Independents don't.

• Independent candidates receive only 70 percent of the Clean Elections funding that partisan candidates get in legislative or statewide races.

• By state law, independents must be listed last on the ballot.

• Voters who register with no party affiliation can vote in either primary, but they are forced to choose a ballot for a single party's primary. They cannot vote for some primary candidates from one party and some from another. And they must jump through an extra hoop to get an early ballot.

Prop. 121 eliminates the unfair advantages partisans enjoy and treats all candidates equally -- regardless of party or lack of party.

It replaces partisan primaries with a single primary in which all voters choose among all candidates. The top two vote-getters for each office advance to the general election. This would apply to all local, county, state and federal offices, except the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Candidates in partisan primaries must seek support and approval from the narrow band of voters who tend to vote in primaries.

These voters, generally the most hard-core members of their respective parties, exercise a disproportionate influence on who ultimately runs the state.

That's because most Arizona's legislative and congressional districts are heavily skewed toward one party. The contest is over before the general election, when far more people vote.

An open-primary system would invite more people to participate in primary elections -- on their terms, without being forced to pick a ballot for a party they have already rejected.

It would force candidates to appeal to a broad range of voters, something that could moderate the tone of today's hyperpartisan politics. Because general elections would once again matter, it would give all voters a greater voice.

Open primaries would likely attract candidates who consider themselves too moderate to win in partisan primaries stacked against them.

The Open Elections/Open Government system is designed to serve voters, rather than political parties. It responds to the way state voters are redefining themselves.

We recommend a "yes" vote.