Posted by Danny Battista on September 05, 2019 at 9:00 AM

Provocative New Campaign Ad Featuring Wounded Veteran Highlights How One-Third of Arizona Voters Will Be Denied the Right to Vote Next Year

Without Rule Change, 33% of AZ’s Independent Voters
will be Excluded from the 2020 Presidential Primary

An explosive new television ad launches today to highlight the plight of Arizona’s 1.27 million independent voters, who are denied the right to vote in the 2020 presidential primary. The 30-second spot, created by the award-winning Salt & Lime Agency based in Phoenix, features a veteran turned away from the polls because of arcane rules that lock out independents. It calls attention to the fact that currently, one third of Arizona voters will be denied the right to vote in the presidential primary because they are registered as independents with no party.

The dramatic ad depicts an Iraq War combat veteran leaving a polling site on the day of a presidential primary. He joins his daughter, who has driven him to the polls, and explains that he was turned away and not permitted to cast a ballot because he is independent.

The ad campaign, run by the Colibri Collective, will target independent voters in Arizona as well as the Democratic Party Precinct and State Committee members.

The advertisement will begin running today through September 16, 2019 on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. 

Arizona’s Democratic Party could decide to open the 2020 Presidential Preference Election at the September 21^st, 2019 State Committee meeting in Prescott.

In Arizona, 1.27 million voters (1,267,340 as of July 1, 2019) are registered as independents.  This includes 40% of Latino voters in the state.  Nationally, Gallup’s June poll on party affiliation showed 46% of Americans consider themselves independent. Among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 49% are independents. Among millennials, the number is 50%.  

Al Bell, a former Navy pilot and a leader among independents in Arizona, commented on recent meetings with Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Arizona Democratic Party Chair Felecia Rotellini, stating “We left hopeful that these leaders would do their part in opening Arizona’s primary.”

Independent leaders also met with Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes. “His strong support for opening the presidential primaries is a boost to our efforts,” said Jim Morrison, Tucson member of Indys4AZ.org. “We must stop a grave voting rights injustice from happening in Arizona.”

 “The Democratic Party has become increasingly competitive in the last 2 years,” said Cathy Stewart, Vice President of National Development for IndependentVoting.org, who also attended the meetings. “Independents are the force putting them over the top.  It’s time for some reciprocal action.” 

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