In fact, did you know that members from both parties tried to get the Open Elections initiative ousted?  All this did was mobilize independents and the “Open Government” people further.  See their below email that explains a huge win for independents and Arizona voters in general:

From:”Open Government – All Voters, All Elections”
Date: Fri, Aug 31, 2012 11:33 am

After our hearing yesterday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Rea has just ruled that Maricopa County elections officials were wrong in declaring hundreds of signatures of voters contained on the initiative petitions invalid, ordering those signatures restored. As a result of the ruling, those signatures now provide a more than sufficient margin for the measure to qualify for the November ballot.

In a separate ruling, Judge Rea also dismissed a suit filed by the political committee opposing our initiative which argued that the petition process and signatures gathered by the campaign were faulty.

This is a huge win for the voters of Arizona and another defeat for the political bosses and lobbyists who are trying to stop us.

Stand by for more details, as we prepare to move forward to November.

Thank you!
Tom Milton
Campaign Manager
Open Elections/Open Government
info@AzOpenGov.org
800-915-7940

The ground within Maricopa County is FERTILE because if you take a look at the registration numbers taken from the Arizona Secretary of State as of 9/14/2012 you will find:

Maricopa County Voter Registration Numbers

2008 (Final)

R – 639,267
D – 440,458
I – 394,782

2012 (August Reporting)

R – 703,288 (+10% from 2008)
I – 588,931 (+33% from 2008)
D – 541,711 (+22% from 2008)

Democrats are now showing as the “third party” in Maricopa County voter registration.

This is precisely why we are behind Mike Stauffer (independent candidate) for Maricopa County Sheriff. 

(Independent candidate) Mike Stauffer for Maricopa County Sheriff

Currently Independent voters hold an 8.8% lead over Democrats in 2012 while in 2008 Independents were outnumbered 10.4% by Democrats. Republicans have a 23% advantage over Democrats, and only a 16.3% advantage over Independents a difference of 7%.

For the first time in Maricopa County history, Independents now out rank the Democratic Party in registered voters. While Independent voters are largely apathetic in their voting turnout, the Open Government initiative has been set to appear on this years election ballot. The 33% of newly registered Independent voters are sure to turn out in record numbers to support a “top-two” measure to level the political playing field.

Most Independent voters have left the party structure in favor of more freedom in elections and less political bias and therefore will be more likely to vote for a candidate working toward that goal.

Here is more on Open Elections / Open Government that will shed light and demonstrate how independent supporters of this initiative has proven to mobilize people because Americans are tired of the partisanship nature that has prevented working in the best interest of the American People.

More from Tom Milton:

Arizona residents will have a chance this November to change our political system, making it less divisive and more responsive to voters of ALL political beliefs.

After our campaign collected more than 365,000 signatures from people from all over the state, the Open Elections/Open Government Initiative will be on the ballot – it will be Proposition 121. We hope you will vote YES on this important measure in the November 6 election.

Under Open Elections/Open Government, candidates will have to reach out to the entire electorate in the primary election, not just voters in their own political party. It will fundamentally change the way elections are held in Arizona. Taxpayer funded partisan elections will be abolished and replaced with an open primary where the top two vote getters will advance to a run-off. Independents, a rapidly growing percent of Arizona voters, and third party candidates will be provided a level playing field with party-sponsored candidates, making it easier to run and easier to participate in the election process. Open Elections/Open Government will bring more voters and candidates into the election process and will abolish taxpayer funded partisan primaries.

We have faced almost every imaginable challenge from the political bosses and lobbyists trying to keep our measure off the ballot.

The governor and legislature considered calling a special session just to place a competing measure on the November ballot. One legislator even admitted the plan was to intentionally confuse voters with a second, similar ballot item. Then, the opponents of the measure, operating through an ironically named group called Save Our Vote, tried to stop the initiative in the courts through FIVE different lawsuits.

But all of the political wrangling and lawsuits failed.

So why have all of the political bosses and lobbyists been fighting so hard to keep this initiative from the voters? Because they fear the real changes that it will bring - changes that will open up our government by opening up all elections to all voters.

That’s why we need the voters of Arizona to stand up and get involved! Please visit our website at www.AzOpenGov.org and click on the GET INVOLVED tab to register your support.