Your vote on ballot measures matters: At stake are voting rights, election integrity, medical debt, housing solutions, flood mitigation, and fire protection. Don’t skip these when you vote! We’ll discuss what the proposals are below and you can take our Sample Ballot into the voting booth with you as a reminder (or sit with it at your kitchen table if you get your ballot by mail).
What are ballot measures? The Arizona Constitution gives citizens the right to change and make laws through a process of obtaining enough signatures on a petition to qualify to have the proposed change or law referred to the voters for an up or down vote on the proposed law. This form of direct democracy is called “citizen initiative” and was included in the original Arizona state constitution of 1912.
The Legislature also has the power to refer proposed constitutional amendments and laws to the voters.
Local propositions have been referred to voters by the County Board of Supervisors sitting as the Board of the Jail Tax District, the Flagstaff City Council, and the Flagstaff Unified School District. There may be other propositions on your ballot if you live in municipalities outside of Flagstaff.
Constitutional Amendments: 100 series
This year, the Republican-controlled Legislature has referred three constitutional amendments to the ballot this November that are designed to make it more difficult to pass citizens initiatives. We recommend a “No” vote on all three of these:
- Proposition 128 would effectively kill the Voter Protection Act. The Voter Protection Act became law as the result of a citizen initiative. It bars the legislature from overturning voter-approved laws or tinkering with them unless they can muster a three-fourth vote. Prop 128 would allow lawmakers to repeal voter-approved measures if any part of the law is declared unconstitutional. Initiatives and laws are declared partially unconstitutional all the time — for example, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 declared the matching funds provision of the Clean Elections Act unconstitutional, but the broader law is still valid. Under Prop 128, that would be enough for lawmakers to scrap the whole Clean Elections Act with a simple majority vote.
- Who’s backing it: Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Center for Arizona Policy, Home Builders Association of Central Arizona
- Who’s opposing it: League of Women Voters of Arizona, One Arizona, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Save our Schools Arizona, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
- Proposition 129 would limit initiatives to a single subject. That would eliminate initiative backers’ ability to combine forces for good-governance initiatives that touch on several aspects of the law, as the Free and Fair Elections Act would have and the Clean Elections Act did.
- Who’s backing it: Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Center for Arizona Policy Action
- Who’s opposing it: Arizona Education Association, One Arizona, League of Women Voters of Arizona, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
- Proposition 132 would require a supermajority of 60% of voters to increase taxes through the citizen initiative process. We’ve already seen how this works at the legislative level: Lawmakers need a two-thirds majority vote to pass any increases on taxes, or even to roll back tax credits and exemptions. That supermajority requirement has hindered lawmakers’ ability to pass even common-sense tax increases or kill off corporate tax giveaways, even ones Republicans don’t like. Prop 132 would destroy majority rule for ballot measures, giving just 41% of voters the power to block policies that the majority of Arizona voters support.
- Who’s for it: Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The Goldwater Institute, Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA)
- Who’s opposing it: Arizona Education Association, One Arizona, League of Women Voters of Arizona, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
On two other constitutional amendments referred to voters by the Legislature, our recommendations are split:
Proposition 130 would expand the tax exemption for disabled veterans to include veterans who are currently Arizona residents, even if they were not residents prior to serving in the military. We recommend a “yes” vote.
- Who’s backing it: County assessors, Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA), Coconino County Democratic Party
- Who’s opposing it: No organized opposition
Proposition 131 would create the position of Lieutenant Governor to succeed a Governor who is no longer able to serve. We recommend a “No” vote because the candidates for Lieutenant Governor would not be named until after the primary election, and the candidates would be selected by the gubernatorial candidates rather than by primary voters. The time allowed for voters to get to know that candidate after the primary is too short. The proposition creates another executive position with no apparent duties except to wait in the wings to replace the governor.
- Who’s backing it: League of Women Voters of Arizona; Arizona Republican Party
- Who’s opposing it: Coconino County Democratic Party, Civic Engagement Beyond Voting
Citizen Initiatives: 200 Series
We recommend both Citizen’s Initiatives:
We recommend a “Yes” vote on Proposition 209 – the Predatory Debt Collection Act. The amendment proposed would reduce the maximum interest rate on medical debt from 10% to 3%, increase the amount of certain assets exempt from debt collection, allow inflation adjustments for exemptions, and allow courts to reduce the amount of disposable earnings subject to garnishment in cases of extreme economic hardship.
- Who’s backing it: Healthcare Rising Arizona (which receives support from the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West), Arizona Public Health Association, Arizona Students’ Association, Phoenix Workers Alliance, Neighbors Forward AZ, Democrats of Casa Grande, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
- Who’s opposing it: Goldwater Institute, Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Tucson Metro Chamber, Greater Phoenix Chamber, Arizona Bankers Association
We recommend a “Yes” vote on Proposition 211 – the Voters Right to Know Act. The law would require entities and persons spending over $50,000 on statewide campaigns or $25,000 on other campaigns to disclose the original donor of any contributions over $5000. It would also require real-time reporting of significant campaign spending, and allow the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission to enforce the provisions of Prop 211.
- Who’s backing it: League of Women Voters of Arizona, former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, former AZ Attorney General Terry Goddard, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
- Who’s opposing it: Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Center for Arizona Policy Action
Note: We went to print on our Sample Ballot before the Arizona Supreme Court threw out the Arizona Fair Elections initiative. Please don’t be confused by it not being on your official ballot.
Statutory Changes Referred By Legislature: 300 Series
Proposition 308 would allow any Arizona student, regardless of immigration status, to be eligible for in-state tuition at state universities and community colleges if they graduated from, and spent at least two years attending, an Arizona public or private high school, or homeschool equivalent; allowing any Arizona student, regardless of immigration status, to be eligible for state financial aid at state universities and community colleges. We recommend a “Yes” vote.
- Who’s backing it: Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Arizona Education Association, Aliento Education Fund, Valley Interfaith Council, Stand for Children, Local First Arizona, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
- Who’s opposing it: Former Senate President Russell Pearce, the Arizona Republican Party, RidersUSA
Proposition 309 would enact unnecessary burdens on voting. We recommend a “No” vote.
- Prop 309 changes the use of mail ballots, which is a well-established, secure, and popular voting method. If this initiative passes, mail ballot voters will have to complete an additional affidavit providing an ID number and date of birth. Election officials must verify this information before counting the vote. This process opens the possibility of linking ballots to individuals and how they vote, violating their privacy. These extra ID requirements for mail ballots increase opportunities for identity theft and chances for ballots to be discarded for inadvertent errors and additional costs and burdens on election administration.
- Prop 309 would also make it harder to vote in person. Currently, voters must show a photo ID or two other proofs of identity, such as a tax bill or recorder’s certificate. If this measure is approved, a voter will need a valid, unexpired photo ID to receive a ballot. No other proof of identity will be allowed. These changes could turn potential voters away at the polls, including elderly voters with expired licenses and other voters without a driver’s license or non-operating license.
- Who’s backing it: Heritage Action for America, Arizonans for Voter ID, Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Arizona Republican Party, Goldwater Institute, Arizona Women of Action, Election Transparency Initiative, America First Policy Institute
- Who’s opposing it: Prescott Indivisible, League of Women Voters of Arizona, One Arizona, Defend Arizona Rights, Opportunity Arizona, Arizona Education Association, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Chispa Arizona, Our Voice Our Vote Arizona, Mi Familia Vota, Arizona Democratic Party, Coconino County Democratic Party
Proposition 310 provides urgently needed funding for our rural fire departments. Summit Fire may close one of its fire stations without the support that would come from this proposition. would increase sales taxes by a tenth of a penny on the dollar to fund rural fire districts. We recommend a “Yes” vote.
- Who’s backing it: Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona, Arizona Fire Chiefs Association, rural fire districts, Coconino County Democratic Party
- Who’s opposing it: Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Arizona Republican Party
Local Propositions: 400 Series
We recommend a “Yes” vote on all of the local propositions put forward by the City of Flagstaff, Coconino County, and the Flagstaff Unified School District.
Proposition 441: Investing in Flagstaff wildfire suppression, stormwater flood mitigation, and wastewater treatment infrastructure.
Proposition 442: Creating rental and homeownership opportunities for residents of Flagstaff.
Proposition 445: This extends a tax to support the County Jail and its rehabilitative programs. A poll shows over 80% of county residents support this proposition.
Proposition 447: Flagstaff Unified School District Budget Override
Proposition 448: Flagstaff Unified School District Bond
Further info:
Arguments for and against ballot measures on Secretary of State website.
Setback in AZ Voting Rights Sharpens Focus on Control of U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Governor
Civic Engagement Beyond Voting Ballot Measure Guide
Arizona Agenda: Not just candidates: A cheatsheet to the 2022 ballot measures
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