BE AN INFORMED ARIZONA VOTER IN 2024

PROPOSITION SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Click HERE to download and share the printable 2 page Proposition Summary and Recommendations

Vote NO on Propositions 138, 139, and 140

Vote YES on all other Propositions.

Overview. The 2024 general election will have 13 statewide propositions that either amend the state constitution or modify the Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS). Significantly changing or repealing a voter passed amendment or ARS modification can only occur by posing the question to the voters in a subsequent general election. Therefore, understanding the intent and consequences of these propositions is critical to being an informed voter.

Proposition 133. Vote “Yes” on this constitutional amendment to require partisan primaries in all state jurisdictions including charter cities. Non-partisan primaries, also called open primaries or jungle primaries, are meant to undermine the effectiveness of political parties. However, 65% of Arizona voters are registered with a political party. Therefore, a strong majority believes parties best serve their political interests. Rather than telling the majority they can’t freely associate with like-minded voters, a more productive response would be to join a party and work to institute improvements.

Proposition 134. Vote “Yes” on this constitutional amendment to require citizen initiative petition collectors to gather signatures from voters in all 30 legislative districts. Currently, petition collectors can target densely populated communities in order to meet their signature thresholds. This effectively leaves rural and suburban voters out of the process that puts propositions on the ballot. The political interests of Pima and Maricopa counties shouldn’t monopolize the proposition process.

Proposition 135. Vote “Yes” on this constitutional amendment that limits the governor’s unilateral authority to declare states of emergency and set associated emergency powers. The governor has emergency powers in order to effectively deal with unexpected issues. However, the COVID pandemic showed that, even with the best of intentions, power could be abused through draconian extensions and questionable authorities over everyday activities. This proposition ensures the citizens have input via their legislators on the breadth and duration of the governor’s emergency powers. Automatically ending a state of emergency unless extended by the legislators sends the message that the government serves the needs of its people rather than the desires of its bureaucrats.

Proposition 136. Vote “Yes” on this constitutional amendment to allow legal challenges to citizen initiatives prior to voter ratification. All bills issued by the state government are scrutinized for constitutionality prior to passage. Citizen initiatives receive no such analysis prior to placement on the ballot. Common sense dictates that questions on constitutionality should be resolved prior to voting.

Proposition 137. Vote “Yes” on this constitutional amendment to take the politics out of our justice system by eliminating judicial terms and retention elections. Today, special interests can target judges for removal if that judge produces unfavorable rulings. In contrast, the federal judiciary was specifically designed to shield judges from politics. We should do no less for our judicial system.

Proposition 138. Vote “No” on this constitutional amendment to enshrine complex minimum wage calculations into the state constitution. This proposal was a well-meaning attempt to counter out-of- state efforts to interfere in our minimum wage industries but that effort failed. If the legislature still believes that minimum wage laws require revision, then let’s make those changes in the appropriate sections of the ARS. Wage rates belong in the ARS, not the state constitution.

Proposition 139. Vote “No” on this constitutional amendment to install abortion as a fundamental right. The proposed amendment is vaguely written for a reason. Specifically, vague words with no constraints will receive the most expansive interpretation by our legal system. Abortion supporters are looking to make abortion unregulated, unlimited, and unsafe for pregnant women and girls. This proposition will allow abortions through all nine months, enable non-family members to arrange abortions for minors, empower unqualified people to evaluate physical and mental conditions, and completely block the state from regulating abortion providers. This radical plan to replace the commonsense limitations on abortions after 15 weeks that are currently in the ARS was bankrolled with a $23 million warchest. Women and girls deserve medical care that prioritizes their health and safety over a radical ideology.

Proposition 140. Vote “No” on this constitutional amendment that will impose California-style jungle primaries and Alaska-style ranked choice voting (RCV) on all Arizona elections. Jungle primaries will eliminate political parties that most of us use to channel our political activities. RCV will impose a ridiculously complex method to cast and tabulate votes. This proposition will allow the current radical Secretary of State to unilaterally redesign our election processes. Arizona will spend millions of dollars to institute a system with tabulation algorithms that can’t be explained and results that can’t be audited. Jungle primaries and RCV has already failed and been repealed in many jurisdictions. Let’s not add Arizona to that list. (Click HERE for more information on Prop 140)

Proposition 311. Vote “Yes” on this ARS modification to create a $250,000 death benefit for first responders killed in the line of duty. Most commercial life insurance policies have exceptions for pay- outs to beneficiaries or require high premiums if the policy holder works under hazardous conditions. Our first responders should not have the added stress of wondering if their families can financially survive without them. We should help the people who help us in our most dire times of need.

Proposition 312. Vote “Yes” on this ARS modification to allow property owners impacted by the failure of local officials to enforce public nuisance laws. Some officials for political reasons have decided to quit protecting communities and business owners from crime and degradation. This proposition will enable voters to request tax refunds to recoup expenses when ensuring their own safety or remedying the property issues brought on by homeless encampments. Maybe refunding taxes will finally get elected officials to do their jobs.

Proposition 313. Vote “Yes” on this modification of the ARS to impose mandatory life sentences with no parole for child sex trafficking. Current ARS penalties for child sex trafficking range from seven years to life imprisonment and defendants are eligible for parole after satisfying certain conditions. Sex trafficked children are sentenced to a lifetime of trauma related repercussions while their exploiters can sometimes return to society. If we are not willing to remove such monsters from society forever, what message are we sending to these sex trafficked children?

Proposition 314. Vote “Yes” on this modification of the ARS that does what the federal government should be doing. Their open border policy has forced Arizona to take on the task of protecting its own citizens. Consequently, this proposition will empower state officials to arrest or send back unvetted mi- grants flooding the border outside of lawful ports of entry. Americans are spending billions of American tax dollars to shelter, transport, feed, and educate the world’s unemployed. Americans should not have to compete against low skilled migrants while trying to establish themselves economically. Finally, the unique lethality of cross-border-produced fentanyl demands additional measures to take its dealers off the streets. Proposition 314 is a measured response to the current administration’s baffling decision to standdown on border enforcement.

Proposition 315. Vote “Yes” on this modification of the ARS to protect our businesses and consumers from the cost of regulatory overreach. Businesses spend billions demonstrating compliance with numerous requirements put out by unaccountable government regulators and those costs get passed to the customers. Regulatory costs are part of living in a modern society, but like taxes, should only be im- posed by our elected, and therefore accountable, officials. This proposition requires the legislature to ratify prior to enforcement any agency rule that carries an estimated cost of $500,000 over five years. There is nothing radical in the idea that citizens’ representatives should be consulted prior to imposing costs on their voters’ enterprises and daily activities. That’s called a representative democracy.

Information and recommendations were compiled by "Concerned Precinct Committeemen".