On May 22, a U.S. District Court in Arizona denied reconsideration in Arizona Libertarian Party v Bennett, 4:11cv-856. This is the case in which the Libertarian and Green Parties challenge the voter registration form, which has three checkboxes: Democratic, Republican, and “other”. The “other” box lets voters write-in the party, or independent status. Arizona has five qualified parties, all of which nominate by primary.
The parties will now appeal to the 9th circuit. The U.S. District Court Judge did re-write her opinion slightly, to delete a sentence which implied that the plaintiffs’ evidence was mistaken. Plaintiffs presented evidence, which is correct, that Arizona is the only state that lists only two parties on its voter registration form, and yet which regularly conducts primaries for other parties as well. In 2012, the state held primaries for the Americans Elect, Green, and Libertarian Parties.
That judge is totally uncool. What is there about “equal protection” that she doesn’t understand? The Americans Elect Party is Arizona’s fastest-growing party, and we will continue to be whether the right-wing crackpots who run the state discriminate against our political party and the Greens and Libertarians in terms of Americans’ most crucial right: the right to vote.
Luckily our voters are smart enough to know how to work around the discrimination and register with us by writing in our name. That’s because our voters are highly educated, sophisticated and cosmopolitan — not the backward desert hillbillies that Arizona Secretary of State caters to.
Thanks to the Greens and Libertarians for helping all “minor” parties in every state fight against this illegal, unconscionable, unconstitutional, arbitrary and capricious rule and ruling.