Arizonans Could Vote Green In November After All

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
Published: Thursday, July 14, 2016 - 9:49am
Updated: Thursday, July 14, 2016 - 4:16pm
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(Photo courtesy of The Green Party via Facebook)
The Green Party of the United States.

Arizonans who are concerned about Clinton, terrified of Trump or jittery about Johnson are getting another choice— Green.

State law requires political parties to submit their list of presidential electors by June 1. The Green Party missed that deadline, with chairman Angel Torres saying no one from the state informed him of the need to submit names more than five months before the general election.

Matt Roberts, spokesman for Secretary of State Michele Reagan said party officials have a point. "We don't disagree with the Greens in this particular case. We just couldn't accept it after the deadline," Reagan explained. "And in talking with the [attorney general's office], there was no wiggle room for us to waive that deadline."

That meant no slot on the ballot for presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein, leaving the party with only one option: sue the secretary of state's office for ballot access. 

Instead of fighting the lawsuit, Reagan directed the attorney general's office to agree to an order giving the Green Party ballot access this year despite missing the deadline. "We filed a stipulation with the court. And, in essence if the court agrees, they're going to be on the ballot this fall," Roberts said.

Filing deadlines generally exist to ensure that ballots get printed on time, Roberts said, "however, we would certainly be open and amenable to changing the law to pushing it back so it makes more sense."

The legislature could take up that issue this coming year.

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