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The panel voted 4-1 to challenge the decision last month by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to permit the name change. Commission members contend the name change is illegal and could confuse people who, when registering to vote, want to be truly independent of any party but find themselves signed up with the Arizona Independent Party.

That concern drew derision from Paul Johnson, who chairs the newly renamed party. He said the party's purpose is to provide a home for independents who believe they are not represented by either of the two major political parties.

Having such a party, and naming it that way, makes it easier for independents to run for office, Johnson added.

That's because someone running for statewide office as a true independent — meaning unaffiliated with any party — needs about 45,000 signatures to get on the general election ballot; it takes only about 6,000 signatures to get on the Democratic or Republican primary election ballots. And it would take far less to run to represent the Arizona Independent Party.

Johnson accused the commission of doing the bidding of the two major parties to continue to make it more difficult for independents to run for office, get on the general election ballot and compete for votes.

"This is lawfare by candidates and by parties who don't want the 35% of the people who are independent to be able to participate,'' he said. 

Backed by attorneys representing the Arizona Independent Party, Johnson said if the commission goes ahead with the lawsuit, they'll be fighting more than Fontes.

"We're going to follow our constitutional rights. And we're going to make a fight out of this,'' Johnson said.  "We're not going to just walk away from it.''

Fontes' office, meanwhile, said he believes the law is on his side. 

"The Secretary (of State's) Office has no authority to block a party from changing its name if it chooses to do so,'' said Fontes' press aide Calli Jones. Constitutional rights of free speech, free association and equal protection apparently provide such protection, she said.

Jones said this isn't about protecting political parties, even as Fontes, a Democrat, is seeking reelection next year.

"We are a neutral filing office,'' she said. "And we will always interpret the law objectively and treat political parties fairly.''

But Tom Collins, director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, said that ignores the possibility of voter confusion.

"The name they chose has a pre-defined use in Arizona law,'' he said.

For example, the statutes define an "independent candidate'' as someone not affiliated with any party who has filed nomination papers following procedures set in state law. They also spell out how the commission, which provides public funds for candidates who decline special interest donations, determines how much someone gets in financial aid.

Anthony Raminez, an attorney representing the Arizona Independent Party, said there's no basis for legal objections by the commission.

The commission's letter to the secretary of state, objecting to the name change, "does not identify fraud, wrongdoing, or any statutory violation,'' he told commissioners. "It relies instead on speculative concerns, vague confusion, and generalized administrative burden — precisely, rationales the U.S. Supreme Court has warned government officials cannot be used to suppress new or independent parties.''

And he, like Johnson, said the objections have political overtones. "The Arizona Clean Election Commission cannot protect the comfort of the two major parties by burdening new competitors,'' Ramirez said.

Ramirez said nothing in the voter-approved statutes that created the commission in 1998 gives it power over political parties. "This is not your role,'' he said. "This is not your mandate, and it is absolutely not your legal authority.''

Collins, however, said the commission's role, aside from administering public financing for candidates, specifically includes voter education. Any move that undermines voters' ability to understand the process is a problem for the commission, he said. 

Friday's meeting also raised another concern.

There are about 47,000 people who signed up with the No Labels Party. Fontes' move appears to now automatically change their registration to the Arizona Independent Party.

That drew a complaint from Richard Grayson, a member of the No Labels Party who ran unsuccessfully as its nominee earlier this year in the special election in Congressional District 7.

He argued that the Arizona Independent Party is not simply a home for those who don't align with the major parties. Instead, he said, it has a belief system of its own.

He cited the party's web page, which lists among its beliefs that the U.S. military is "strongest in the world,'' that the party supports "strong borders and a workable immigration system,'' and an "all-of-the-above energy strategy'' including oil, gas, nuclear and renewables. 

"So it's not an independent party,'' Grayson said. "They have an ideology.''

But Jones, speaking for Fontes, said if voters are unhappy with their new party affiliation, they are free to change it, which they can do online.