If passed, Proposition 134 will blow up the cost of citizens gathering signatures for initiatives, likely pushing the cost to over $25M for any initiative. It will push most citizen led efforts out of reach.
Arizona’s constitution allows the people to participate in direct democracy through citizen-initiated ballot measures where voters can collect signatures, amend state laws, or challenge new laws when they think our representatives haven’t gotten it right at the capitol. The citizen initiative process is a key part of Arizona’s democracy that has allowed us to raise the minimum wage, get paid family leave for all workers, increase funding for education, and legalize recreational marijuana when the legislature has failed to act.
Over the past decade, the ballot initiative process has become increasingly difficult to navigate. This is the latest blatant attempt to remove an important way for voters to participate in democracy and propose changes to state laws and the Arizona Constitution.
Currently, the requirement for the number of signatures needed for placement on the ballot is statewide: signatures must be collected by 15% of the number of people who voted in the last Gubernatorial election for a constitutional amendment, 10% to create a new state law or amend an existing law, or 5% to challenge a new law.
This proposition would keep the same percentage of voters but require they come from all 30 legislative districts in the state. In short, it changes the rules of the game and makes it harder to hold state government accountable. This new signature requirement will make it more difficult for voter-led initiatives to appear on the ballot and would centralize more power in the hands of elected officials and less power in the hands of the people.
The power of the citizen initiative process lies in the fact that nearly any group of Arizona voters can come together to bring an issue to the ballot. Prop 134 would change the process so that only the ultra-wealthy and powerful special interest groups could gather enough signatures to bring a question to the ballot. Prop 134 makes it so that instead of reaching a general signature threshold, getting a question on the ballot would require an unrealistic amount per legislative district.
The ultra-wealthy with political power and special interest groups are not a true reflection of Arizona voters. They should not be the only ones who can afford to bring important priorities to the statewide ballot.
Vote NO on Prop 134 to protect Arizonans' right to propose and pass new laws and constitutional amendments ourselves, such as the right to have an abortion
If passed, Proposition 134 will blow up the cost of citizens gathering signatures for initiatives, likely pushing the cost to over $25M for any initiative. It will push most citizen led efforts out of reach.
Arizona’s constitution allows the people to participate in direct democracy through citizen-initiated ballot measures where voters can collect signatures, amend state laws, or challenge new laws when they think our representatives haven’t gotten it right at the capitol. The citizen initiative process is a key part of Arizona’s democracy that has allowed us to raise the minimum wage, get paid family leave for all workers, increase funding for education, and legalize recreational marijuana when the legislature has failed to act.
Over the past decade, the ballot initiative process has become increasingly difficult to navigate. This is the latest blatant attempt to remove an important way for voters to participate in democracy and propose changes to state laws and the Arizona Constitution.
Currently, the requirement for the number of signatures needed for placement on the ballot is statewide: signatures must be collected by 15% of the number of people who voted in the last Gubernatorial election for a constitutional amendment, 10% to create a new state law or amend an existing law, or 5% to challenge a new law.
This proposition would keep the same percentage of voters but require they come from all 30 legislative districts in the state. In short, it changes the rules of the game and makes it harder to hold state government accountable. This new signature requirement will make it more difficult for voter-led initiatives to appear on the ballot and would centralize more power in the hands of elected officials and less power in the hands of the people.
The power of the citizen initiative process lies in the fact that nearly any group of Arizona voters can come together to bring an issue to the ballot. Prop 134 would change the process so that only the ultra-wealthy and powerful special interest groups could gather enough signatures to bring a question to the ballot. Prop 134 makes it so that instead of reaching a general signature threshold, getting a question on the ballot would require an unrealistic amount per legislative district.
The ultra-wealthy with political power and special interest groups are not a true reflection of Arizona voters. They should not be the only ones who can afford to bring important priorities to the statewide ballot.
Vote NO on Prop 134 to protect Arizonans' right to propose and pass new laws and constitutional amendments ourselves, such as the right to have an abortion