GOP places 11 ballot measures before Arizona voters

PHOENIX – Voters across Arizona will see their November ballot filled with 11 measures referred by Republican lawmakers that cover a range of GOP priorities – tough-on-crime issues and new limits on how voters can put their own proposed laws on the ballot.

But at the top of the GOP wish list is a border security measure that Republicans see as a key election-year issue and a counter to a citizen initiative backed by Democrats that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.

That sets up a classic skirmish between the two parties for voters’ attention: backers of abortion rights versus opponents of the Biden Administration’s border policies.

Democrats point to the border proposal and others put on the ballot with only GOP support as divisive red-meat measures designed to get around opposition from the minority party in the Arizona Legislature and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto stamp.

They hope they can get voters to reject the legislature’s referrals while approving the abortion initiative, which will be on the ballot if backers turn in the required signatures by the July 3 deadline as expected. Democrats view the abortion issue as a major turnout driver that has broad support, particularly from women and younger voters.

For their part, Republicans see the immigration enforcement measure their party’s lawmakers put on the ballot as one that will motivate voters across the political spectrum.

And that’s how independent Arizona pollster Mike Noble sees it too: Topline issues that cross political lines while still appealing strongly with their base voters.

“They’re both base issues, and they both cut across the middle,'' Noble said. “Immigration, border security, is a wedge issue for Republicans and abortion is a wedge issue for Democrats. It’s that simple.''

State Sen. Priya Sundareshan, a Tucson Democrat, said her party will be pushing voters to back only the abortion measure and reject all those Republican lawmakers placed on the ballot.

“We’ll be focused on abortion and 'no’' on everything else,'' Sundareshan said. “That’s the way I view it.''

Republican House Speaker Ben Toma defended all 11 ballot referrals GOP lawmakers want Arizona voters to pass, calling them common-sense, thoughtful measures that deserve a look from the electorate.

“Most of these are just decent, decent ideas and things that really should have gotten the governor’s signature,'' Toma said, while noting that some will spur legitimate disagreement. “But by and large, I don't think there's anything here that is shocking or unexpected.''

The just-ended legislative session saw Republicans, who hold one-vote majorities in the state House and Senate, send seven measures to the ballot, including the broad border enforcement law that mimics one adopted by Texas that is currently blocked by the courts. Four were placed on this fall's ballot by the majority party last year, bringing the total to 11, though three face court challenges.

The border proposal allows local law enforcement to arrest people who are believed to have sneaked across the Mexican border into Arizona and charges local superior court judges with jailing them if they don’t voluntarily leave.

The measure also contains provisions criminalizing applying for federal, state or local benefits if a person isn't legally in the U.S. and boosting penalties for selling fentanyl if the drug leads to a death.

It is modeled after a border security law passed last year in Texas which is expected to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The last time the justices addressed the issue was in 2012 when they rejected much of Arizona's SB1070, a previous effort by the state to boost immigration enforcement. In reaching that decision, the high court confirmed immigration enforcement is the sole purview of the federal government.

Texas Republicans and GOP backers of the Arizona proposal hope the Supreme Court’s new conservative majority will overrule that precedent and let states enforce laws designed to crack down on illegal immigration.

The national backlash from SB1070 left the state reeling as Arizona was hit with boycotts, the business community leaned on GOP lawmakers to back off the issue and the key sponsor, then-Senate President Russell Pearce, was recalled from office. Pearce died last year. The business community is again lined up against the new border measure.

Hobbs vetoed a similar proposal passed by the Legislature earlier this year before Toma resurrected it and got his GOP colleagues to bypass her and send it directly to the ballot.

In addition to the border measure, GOP lawmakers sent six other measures to the ballot in the session that ended on June 15, on top of the four from last year.

Some measures would need to go before voters no matter what lawmakers think because they change the constitution.

That’s the case with two targeting how citizens can put their own proposed laws before voters. Previously approved voter initiatives have raised the minimum wage, legalized marijuana and boosted taxes on the wealthy, although that 2018 initiative was struck down by the state Supreme Court.

Republican lawmakers chafe at the result of those initiatives and have worked for years to make it harder to get them on the ballot, either though changes in the law or revisions to the state constitution that require voter approval. But they're not shy about placing their own referrals before the electorate.

Initiative backers must collect signatures from 10% of registered voters, or 15% if the proposal amends the state constitution. Laws passed by the legislature and signed by the governor can be referred to the ballot if opponents collect signatures from 5% from voters, who then can approve or reject them.

The measure Republicans put before voters would requires those percentages to be collected from each of the state's 30 legislative districts, making it exponentially more difficult to gather enough signatures.

“This is a terrible idea because we should not empower one legislative district to veto the idea, just one district,'' Senate Minority Mitzi Epstein said during last year’s vote to send the measure to the ballot. “If you believe in our democratic republic, this is a terrible idea.''

Sundareshan said during the same vote that the measure is part of the years-long effort by Repubicans to “chip away'' at the people’s right to enact their own laws when the legislature fails to do so.

“This is just one heavy, heavy burden we are adding into that signature collection process,” Sundareshan said of the new signature-collection proposal.

Republicans argued that the measure gives voters in rural Arizona a voice they don't currently have, since petition circulators often get most of the needed signatures from Maricopa County, the state’s most populous. Democrats noted in response that no matter where the signatures are collected, voters across the state cast ballots for or against a proposal.

“I support this bill because this will require that it be demonstrated that there is support throughout the state for a change to our constitution or a referral of a bill that was passed to the voters,'' said Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills. “And I think that’s more democratic than the current system.''

A second ballot referral targeting initiatives would allow opponents to sue before it makes the ballot. Challenges of signatures are already common, so initiative proponents could need to defend another aspect of their proposal before it goes on the ballot.

All this comes as proponents are collecting signatures to put several initiatives of their own before voters. In addition to the abortion measure, two others are likely to turn in enough signatures by July 3 to qualify: one raising the state minimum wage and eliminating lower wages allowed for workers who also earn tips, and one that eliminates partisan primaries in the state and put in place a ranked-choice voting system for the general election.

But GOP lawmakers are ready for the latter: They already have out their own proposed constitutional measure on the November ballot to require partisan primary elections with just one person from each party advancing to the general election. That's a de facto ban on ranked choice voting, which proponents say forces moderation by candidates.

Another measure sent to the ballot by GOP lawmakers would eliminate the requirement that judges chosen by the governor through the merit-selection process must face voters every four or six years.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org .