The Arizona Secretary of State has submitted proposed election law changes to the legislature, including changes concerning the two issues won by Ralph Nader in the 9th circuit last year. The Secretary of State asks the legislature to move the independent presidential candidate petition deadline to only 60 days before the general election, but only for independent presidential candidates. Independent candidates for other office would still need to submit their signatures by early June.
Also, the Secretary of State proposed that only independent presidential petition drives be allowed to use out-of-state circulators. Independent candidates for office other than president, and initiatives, would still be required to use only in-state circulators. Since the state’s entire defense of the residency requirement was that out-of-staters cannot be located if they commit fraud, the Secretary of State’s proposal seems inconsistent. For independent presidential petitions, the proposed amendment says that out-of-staters must register with the Secretary of State before starting work.
