An Arizona court has ruled that the party operating as the Arizona Independent Party cannot legally use that name, finding the Secretary of State lacked authority to approve its name change from the No Labels Party and voiding the approval.
In a ruling dated March 19, the Arizona Superior Court granted summary judgment to a group of plaintiffs that sought to block the change, among them the Arizona Democratic Party, the Republican Party of Arizona, and the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
The court found that while Arizona state law provides a process for recognizing new political parties, it does not include any such procedure that allows an existing party to change its name. As state officials in Arizona only have authority granted by statute, the court ruled that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes exceeded his authority when he approved the name change in late 2025.
The Arizona Independent Party was originally the state affiliate of No Labels. After the national organization abandoned plans to field a presidential ticket in 2024, the Arizona party moved to nominate down-ballot candidates using its existing ballot access. That led to a legal dispute between the two organizations, with a federal district court initially blocking the filings before the Ninth Circuit reversed the decision in 2025.
The state party continued to operate independently, naming former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson as chair in July 2025. Johnson said the party would rebrand, adopting the Arizona Independent Party name following a survey of members, and use its ballot access to provide a lower-barrier path for unaffiliated and independent candidates to appear on the ballot.
In its ruling, the court warned that allowing parties to change their names without going through the statutory recognition process could enable a “bait and switch,” in which a party qualifies for the ballot under one name and later adopts another. The court noted that voters sign petitions based in part on a party’s name, and that allowing a name change after qualification could undermine that process and introduce confusion about what voters originally supported.
The ruling also invalidates guidance issued by Fontes directing county officials to convert voter registrations from the No Labels Party to the Arizona Independent Party. The court found that partisan affiliation is determined by the voter, not the state, and that he lacked the authority to mandate such changes.
Importantly, the decision does not affect the party’s underlying ballot access. As the original No Labels Party qualified under state law in 2023 as a new party, the party remains entitled to appear on Arizona ballots under that name through the 2026 election cycle.
The court said that to appear on the ballot as the Arizona Independent Party, the organization would need to restart the qualification process and gather signatures under the new name. It also rejected arguments that requiring a new petition process would violate the party’s constitutional rights, finding that the burden is limited and justified by the state’s interest in avoiding voter confusion.
The Arizona Independent Party has not publicly responded to the ruling.
Be First to Comment