"Approval Voting" Supporters Are Jerry Lewis' Friends And Family

The sole sponsor of HB2569 ("Approval Voting") was Justin Olson.  Mr. Olson represents LD19 along with Rich Crandell and is home of former Speaker of the House, Kirk Adams.

Coincidence?

HB2569 would allow a city or town to establish and use a system of approval voting in that city or town’s primary or first election that provide for the following: 

- The voter is permitted to vote for as many candidates for a single office as the voter chooses.

- The two candidates who receive the highest and second highest number of votes shall advance to the general or runoff election, regardless of whether any one candidate has received a majority of the votes cast for that office.

- The ballot and all other voting materials shall clearly indicate that the voter may vote for as many candidates in that election as the voter chooses, and that the candidates who receive the two highest numbers of votes shall advance to the general or runoff election.

Representative Justin Olson, the sole sponsor, explained that this legislation attempts to eliminate the “spoiler effect” by allowing a person to vote for more than one candidate to advance into the final run-off. 

Andrew Jennings expressed support of HB2569. He stated that he has already spoken with the Mesa City Council and Gilbert Town Council who were open to a dialogue on the issue.  He related that approval voting has been in existence since the 1970s. It allows voters to vote for as many candidates as they approve, with the idea of eliminating some of the current electoral problems. He said that Arizona cities want the freedom to participate in discussion of this issue and have the option to try approval voting, currently prevented by state statute. In answer to questions, he advised that under the system of approval voting, more than one candidate can be voted for and each vote will be given equal weight, it is compatible with existing software and equipment, and write-in candidates will be considered and will also be given equal weight.

Andrew Jennings is Jerry Lewis' son-in-law.

Kory Langhofer  also spoke in favor of HB2569.  He appears to be active in the political scene and friends with Tyler Montague, Nathan Sproul, Farrell Quinlan (former spokesman for the Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform), and Chad Heywood (Campaign Manager for Kirk Adams).  He also appears to be a supporter of both Flake and Adams.  He stated that if this legislation is adopted, it will give cities and towns the option of exploring this system to see if it works. He said he hopes that if a jurisdiction adopts approval voting, it might help change the tone of campaigns by shifting debate to more positive policy positions.

 Now where have we heard the phrase,

"change the tone" before?

EDITED TO ADD:  Seems Mr. Langhofer is more involved in politics than we originally thought.  He was just elected as a delegate to the GOP Convention.  I think we know which PC's gave him their vote.

Someone else who signed up in support of HB2569 but did not speak:  Drexden Davis. 

It looks like the anti-Pearce, anti-TRADITIONAL Conservative opportunists are out trying to change the system because they KNOW that a guy like Jerry Lewis will have no prayer of winning a primary election on his own, without help.  Thanks to radicals like CBA who these same people aligned themselves with in the recall election, they now know that it IS possible for a tool like Lewis to win if he can only run against another Republican in a general election.  Especially if that election is in a district where even the Democrats understand that a Democrat will never win.

Vice-Chairman Smith moved that HB2569 do pass. The motion carried by a roll call vote of 7-0-1-1

Member Name	Vote	Member Name	Vote	Member Name	Vote
Cecil P. Ash	Y	Tom Chabin	Y	Doris Goodale	Y
Albert Hale	Y	Jack W. Harper	AB	Anna Tovar	Y
Ted Vogt	P	David Burnell Smith	Y	Eddie Farnsworth	Y

 Video of the discussion can be seen here.