Make Arizona’s Ballot Initiative Process Fair & Balanced!
Ballot propositions should be representative of our entire state. But out-of-state special interests can easily put extreme measures on our ballot by collecting enough signatures from just Phoenix alone — with no input from our state’s diverse regions.
Signatures in support of initiatives should come from ALL parts of the state – not just one city – to create a more fair and balanced ballot access process for all Arizonans.
A Signature Distribution Requirement…
Is Fair and Balanced
Increases Voter Involvement
Gives Rural Communities A Voice
Stops Out-Of-State Influence
It’s time to clean up Arizona’s ballot box mess.
Arizona’s Constitution requires that a certain number of signatures must be collected for an initiative to qualify for the ballot. But there’s no requirement that signatures be collected from across our state’s diverse demographic regions. This means that more often than not, voters in Phoenix or Tucson decide what initiatives end up on the ballot, with no input from the rest of the state.
This low bar has led to an explosion of extreme, controversial measures making their way onto our ballot in recent years, funded by out-of-state special interests.
In the 2022 election cycle, out-of-state funders only had to collect 238,000 signatures to send statutory initiatives to the ballot in a state of 7.5 million people. Paid signature gatherers can easily collect all these signatures in Phoenix or Tucson – a laughably low bar for special interests with deep pockets.
Out-of-state special interests can easily put extreme measures onto our ballot.
Over the past several election cycles, Arizona’s ballot box has been littered by initiatives funded almost exclusively by special interests outside of the state. These include measures to increase utility costs, impose new taxes, curb free speech, and impose dramatic health care costs onto Arizona’s residents.
For example, Proposition 127, which was funded almost entirely by a California billionaire in 2018, would have more than doubled utility costs for Arizona ratepayers.
To make matters worse, once such measures are passed, it’s impossible to alter them outside of running another ballot measure or undertaking a complicated legislative effort. That’s the sad reality of Arizona’s initiative process, and it needs to change.
A signature distribution requirement is the answer!
Voters in ALL parts of the state should determine which measures appear on our ballots – not just those who live in the largest cities. This would stop the power of out-of-state special interests to take advantage of Arizona’s initiative process.
What we need is a reform that requires that a percentage of registered voters from each legislative district must sign a petition in support of an initiative before it can appear on the ballot: 5% for referenda, 10% for initiatives, and 15% for constitutional changes.
This reform doesn’t increase the number of signatures required, it simply requires that they be collected from across the state – not just Phoenix or Tucson.
It’s fair & balanced, increases voter involvement by engaging ALL parts of our state, and stops out-of-state special interests from buying their way onto our ballot.
ALL Arizonans deserve a say in the future of our state. But we need your help!
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