By
Sheila Bapat
Arizona's state primary election is tomorrow.
But it shouldn't be.
Ever since 1912, when the Arizona constitution was drafted, the primary has been eight weeks before the general election. We are sitting less than two months away from the general election on Nov. 7 and each party has yet to choose its candidates for local, county and state offices.
Compared to the rest of the country, Arizona is late in the game.
California's primary was in March. Many other states held theirs before the summer began. A late primary election means that Arizona's political parties are fighting civil wars up until the brink of major general elections.
In most other states, each party chooses its candidates months before the big day in November. Each party's candidates can take advantage of the summer to solidify their platform, build a good campaign against their opponents in other parties, and most importantly, have the alliance of their parties behind them.
But until a mere eight Tuesdays before the general election, Arizona's parties don't have their candidates picked. Once the smoke clears after the primary, candidates will be forced to quickly switch gears and spend eight weeks campaigning against candidates from opposing parties.
The primary is so late because the geniuses who drafted Arizona's constitution in 1912 decided that eight Tuesdays before the general election is a good time to hold the primary. The ridiculous statute has not been questioned. But it needs to be thrown out on its ass.
If only changing the constitution were that simple. It quite literally takes initiative. A resident or member of the state legislature needs to draft an initiative in order to change the state constitution.
According to one official at the Secretary of State's office, an initiative to change the primary election statute requires 101,762 valid signatures in order to be voted on during a general election.
For Ted Downing, Gabrielle Giffords and Howard Shore, three Tucson Democrats, the late primary election hits close to home. All of them are running for the state representative seat in District 13. Tomorrow's primary narrows the race down to two Democrats.
The two chosen tomorrow will then switch from campaigning against each other to working together for the general election against their Republican opponents.
Downing, a UA research lab professor, says that although he doesn't mind the date of the primary, it makes the race a close call.
"If you win the primary, there's only a few weeks before the general," Downing said. "There's a lot of uncertainty."
Giffords, owner of Giffords Capital Management, believes making the primary earlier could help voter turnout.
"I'd do whatever it takes to improve voter turnout," she said. "By not being pitted against other party members for so long and having more time in between the primary and the general election, we could have time to get more people voting."
Giffords also thinks that the lag of summertime forces voters out of vote-mode.
"After being away all summer, people aren't thinking about the campaigns anymore," she said. "But if we had the primary in March or April, we could have higher voter turnout."
Instead of only campaigning against their Republican opponents, which in the bigger scheme of politics makes much more sense, Downing and Giffords have spent months campaigning against each other even though they are ideologically similar and of the same party.
It is ridiculous for candidates who agree on fundamental issues to be battling each other for months at a time. It divides the parties. And once the time comes to quickly switch gears and start campaigning against the opposing parties, people within each party have set their hearts and hopes on different candidates. If their woman doesn't win, they might not even vote at all.
And the state Democrats, Arizona's underdog of the two big parties, get hit hard. The conservative nature of the state has no hope of changing unless the Democratic party becomes more tightly knit. Having a late primary that divides Democratic voters isn't helping their cause.
Even though an earlier primary makes so much sense, the primary's date has hardly even been questioned. It has been accepted as a reality of Arizona elections.
So by all means, vote in tomorrow's primary. Help boost the pathetic 25 percent anticipated voter turnout. And remind yourself to come back on Nov. 7.
But just remember, the date needs to change.
