In 2020, qualified independent voters who want to vote in the presidential preference election will be required to join a private organization, a “recognized party,” by February 19 to participate in the March 17 election. One-third of Arizona’s registered voters are independents. To be forced to join a party to vote for the president of all Americans violates the very idea of America. It is civic usury.

We are two of the 1.2 million independent registered voters in Arizona who pay taxes that fund the Arizona Presidential Preference election but are forbidden from participating in it unless we re-register.

Independent voters, who get shut out of primary elections and are ignored by Republicans and Democrats, proved in the 2016 election that squandering their voices is politically dangerous.

Following Tuesday’s fiasco in which voters across waited in line for hours to cast their ballots, Gov. Doug Ducey called for independents to be allowed to vote in Arizona’s presidential preference elections.

At last, a spotlight is on the most important group of voters in Arizona: independents. Voters are fleeing the parties, including a majority of new millennial voters, who refuse to join a party in the first place.

The race for Arizona governor has created an odd mix of arguments in a state where recent gubernatorial contests were dominated by divisive issues like immigration. The shift away from hardline rhetoric and toward more nuanced positions marks an effort by both candidates to negate their opponents' key points as they court the growing bloc of independent voters in Arizona.

The revelation that independents outnumber Republicans in Arizona and are now the state’s largest bloc of registered voters gives a misleading impression about the impact they have on elections here.

Libertarians, Greens will look to courts if election referendum fails

Even if the referendum drive against the omnibus elections measure HB2305 falls short, Greens and Libertarians may still be able to strike down a requirement in the legislation that dramatically increases the number of signatures they need to get on the ballot.

Third-party candidates may become a rare breed in Arizona.

HB2305, an omnibus elections bill, dramatically raises the number of signatures that Green Party, Libertarian and other third-party candidates will need to qualify for the ballot. Whereas signature requirements have historically been based on the number of registered votes a party has, the bill equalizes the requirements for all parties.

Arizona Capitol Times Assistant Editor Bill Bertolino discusses the low early ballot returns and the surge in independent voter registration.