Fresh off Arizona's national embarrassment regarding voting lines topping four to five hours, Governor Doug Ducey called for changes to the election process, Wednesday.
Ducey released a statement in which he asked for Arizona's Presidential Preference Election to include Independent voters.
Many Independent voters say they stood in line, only to find out, they aren't eligible to vote.
Arizona's Presidential Preference election is only open to registered Republicans and Democrats.
"I think it was a failure of democracy, on our part as the state. We disenfranchised a lot of voters," said State Senator Martin Quezada.
Quezada says the writing was on the wall months ago: A wild presidential race drew big attention from both sides of the aisle, including the ever-growing Independent vote.
Quezada says the Governor's call to clear up the Independent confusion, is too little, too late.
"It seems a little hypocritical, for him to come out and say that now. It's a little too late now, to be making that kind of suggestion, especially when we had that opportunity," said Senator Quezada.
Quezada says he tried to change the law to let Independents vote in the Arizona Presidential Primary, twice, as recently as this year.
He says both times the bill was dead on arrival, not receiving a hearing, let alone a vote.
Quezada says if it had passed, it would have been in effect for Tuesday's election.
The Governor's office says, they don't set which bills are heard, and released this statement:
“This looks like just another partisan attack at exactly the wrong time. Given the problems at the polls last night, everyone should be working together to fix this, not grandstand."
Lawmakers could pass a law fixing the Arizona Primary election anytime between now and the 2020 presidential election to allow Independent voters to participate.?
