PHOENIX (AP) -- Complaints against Arizona's "clean elections" system which provides public finances to underfunded candidates who campaign against richer opponents were dismissed today by a federal appeals court panel in San Francisco.

A three-judge panel with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the complaints were moot since the plaintiffs have no role in an active campaign.

The Arizona Citizens Clean Election Act was adopted by voters in 1998 and gives candidates who opt into the program public money to campaign.

A legal challenge filed in January 2004 questioned the constitutionality of the election regulation.

Three months ago, the appeals court panel heard arguments from attorneys for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a Tucson-based physician advocacy group, state Treasurer Dean Martin and two Republican candidates.

They claim the Clean Election Act stifles the free speech of candidates who chose to run a privately-funded campaign.

U.S. District Judge Earl Carroll of Phoenix ruled in 2005 that the provisions challenged by the lawsuit were constitutional.

Martin says he'll likely appeal today's ruling to a larger panel of the Ninth Circuit or to the U-S Supreme Court.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)