Arizona and other states with the initiative process provide that initiatives must only deal with a single subject. Last November, Proposition 121 appeared on the Arizona ballot. It would have established a top-two open primary if it had passed. The Arizona Supreme Court had ruled before the election that Proposition 121 did not violate the “single subject” rule, but only on January 7, 2013, did it issue its opinion explaining why it didn’t violate the rule.

Opponents of the initiative had won in the lower court. The lower court had said that an initiative that puts a top-two open primary in place, and also abolishes elections for political party precinct committeemember, cannot appear on the ballot because those two parts consist of two different subjects. But the Arizona Supreme Court said both parts are a single subject, and the single subject is that both parts downgrade the role that political parties would play in Arizona elections, if the measure had passed. The decision is Save Our Vote v Bennett, cv2012-010717. Footnote three points out that the initiative didn’t pass, so the decision has no practical significance except as a precedent for future controversies over the single-subject rule.

The Federal Election Commission meets on February 14, and will consider the Socialist Workers Party’s request to extend its exemption from having to report its campaign contributors and expenditures at that meeting. The SWP won an exemption in 1974 but it expired on December 31, 2012. The basis for the party’s having been exempt during the last 28 years was that the party demonstrated that individuals identified as members or supporters of the party, in the past, were in danger of harassment both from certain government agencies and from private individuals and groups. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

National Journal has this article about the difficulty for candidates for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, especially those who are trying to get on a primary ballot, because of the weather. The primary petitions are due February 27.

Unfortunately, reporters for even the best-quality publications (Boston Globe, National Journal) never mention that Massachusetts is among the strictest states in the nation for primary ballot access. Nor do any of these articles ever mention there is a bill pending in the legislature to ease the requirements. Nor do the reporters mention the considerable body of case law that says petition requirements in special elections must be eased when the normal length of petitioning is not available.