Federal appeals panel stays ruling on Arizona open primary

By The Associated Press

08.08.02

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PHOENIX — A federal appeals court yesterday stayed a ruling that declared Arizona's open-primary law unconstitutional, paving the way for independent voters to cast ballots in the state's September primary.

State attorneys sought the stay from the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after U.S. District Judge Raner Collins in Tucson refused a similar request to put his decision on hold.

Collins ruled Aug. 5 that Arizona's open primary infringes on the free-association rights of political parties. Yesterday's stay prevents the ruling from taking effect pending the outcome of the state's appeal, which is not expected before early next year.

Backers of the open-primary law said Collins' ruling would have thrown early voting for the Sept. 10 primary — which starts today — into disarray and left more than 400,000 independent and small-party voters in limbo.

These voters had previously been allowed to vote in Republican, Democratic or Libertarian primaries under the 1998 open-primary law, which allows registered voters unaffiliated with different parties to vote in primaries. But under Collins' ruling they would have been barred from voting.

Elections officials will now be able to continue as planned with early voting.

"We'll be conducting this election as we had planned under the open primary law," said Jessica Funkhouser, state elections director. "The issue will be decided by the court under a regular appeal, probably sometime next year."

The postponement of the ruling will last until the court hears the state's appeal, said state Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Pati Urias.

David Hardy, an attorney for the state Libertarian party, which filed the lawsuit, called the appeals court's decision a minor setback. "With a decision coming only a few days before early ballot voting, the odds were pretty good the court was going to let the status quo stand so they could take a look at things," he said.

Libertarians argued that letting unaffiliated voters cast ballots interferes with the party's right to choose their leadership.

"The First Amendment protects the right ... not to associate with people you don't want in your group," said Hardy.

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Federal judge finds Arizona's open primary unconstitutional
Decision creates problem for elections officials overseeing early voting, which begins tomorrow for Sept. 10 primary.  08.07.02