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This Article is reprinted from the January, 2018 Edition of the LD9 Newsletter.
As a PC or Democratic Party volunteer, you are the person your neighbors will turn to for accurate information about voting and elections. If you don’t know the answer, don’t be afraid to admit it and offer to get back to the questioner. Starting this month, we will have a column on answers to questions that all PCs should know. If you have a question or think there’s one to which all PCs should know the answer, please submit it via email. We will publish the question and answer for the benefit of all. Thanks to Marlene Verdery, Precinct 56, and Susan Bickel, Precinct 158, for this month’s answers.
Q. Can “Others” (aka “Independents”) vote in primaries?
A. Yes. “Other” voters on the Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL) will receive a card from the elections office ahead of the primary election asking them to choose the party ballot they want. In order to receive the ballot, voters must return the card by the specified deadline. The primary election ballot includes federal, state and local candidates but not presidential candidates. The mail-in ballots are then treated the same as those from registered party members.
“Others” not on the PEVL can choose a party ballot at their polling places.
“Others” are not eligible to vote in our Presidential Preference Elections, which are held in years when we elect a president. In Arizona, only voters registered with the Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian parties can vote in the PPE. **
If an Independent would like to vote in the PPE, he/she must re-register as a party affiliate at least 29 days before the election. After the election, those voters are free to change registrations back to Independent.
PCs can play a vital role here by following up with Others on their list to make sure they’ve returned the card and thus are eligible to vote in the primary. Our doing so can help improve the low turnout rate typically seen in primary elections.
Q. Can “Others” sign candidate nomination petitions?
A. Yes. Members of the candidate’s party or a voter registered as “Other” or “Independent” can sign petitions.
Q. How many candidate nomination petitions can I sign?
A. You can sign one petition per position on the ballot. For example, you can sign one petition for gubernatorial candidates and one for CD2 U.S. Representative. You can sign up to two nomination petitions for candidates running for Arizona State Legislature or Arizona Corporation Commission, as there will be two positions on the ballot.
** Editor’s note: Arizona’s primaries for all offices besides president are “open” primaries. “Others” can participate. Arizona’s Presidential Preference Election is a “closed” primary. Only members of a recognized party can participate in that party’s primary election.
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