Election

A voter initiative rolling back Republican-backed election law changes and expanding voting access will not appear on the November ballot, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday, issuing a final death knell after an on-again off-again series of court rulings.

The lawsuit was filed against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for governor, and the elected supervisors of Maricopa and Pima counties, who oversee elections in the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas.

Two of the initiatives — one limiting so-called predatory debt collection and Goddard’s political spending transparency measure — easily survived court challenges to their signatures.

Arizona GOP leaders are urging the state Supreme Court to overrule lower court judges and block three voter initiatives from the ballot.

An attorney representing opponents of the Free and Fair Elections measure said his analysis shows the measure now falling about 10,000 signatures short.

The rulings are not the last word, however. Attorney Kory Langhofer, who represents the business groups that brought the challenges, said he’s already filed appeals notices.

A Missouri man has been indicted after authorities say he left an Arizona election official a threatening voicemail. If convicted, Hoornstra Jr. could serve up to five years in prison for making a threatening interstate communication and up to two years in prison for making a threatening phone call.

Lawyers for challengers and the initiative proponents have spent the past two weeks in court, and three different Phoenix judges will decide who is correct.

Lawyers for Maricopa County say the two alleged, “Arizona does not use paper ballots, test its tabulations machines, or audit election results.”

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said in a series of tweets that Republicans in the state must unite behind the newly named GOP nominees heading into the November election to "ensure Arizona remains a beacon of freedom and prosperity."

We'll be providing up-to-date information on candidates, their progress in respective races and results as they come in.

Flipping just one Arizona district in November could help Republicans in Congress retake the U.S. House majority and push forward on priorities that include tougher security at the U.S.-Mexico border.