A ballot proposition in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

refers to any

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

brought before the voters of the state for approval. In common usage, the term generally applies to the method of amending either the state

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

s through

popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put directly to a plebiscite o ...

, although it may also refer to any legislation referred to the public by the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

. Most ballot propositions in the latter context are the end result of the normal legislative process regarding amendments to the state constitution. Occasionally the legislature may choose to refer bills of a statutory nature to the voting public, as well.

Origins

The first instance of a modern US initiative and referral system appeared in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in 1902. This in itself was a product of the governmental reforms that were a signature of the

Progressive Era The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...

, which sought to reduce corruption and inefficiency. A strong sentiment that current political systems were cumbersome and slow lead to the popularization of the idea of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

. Citizen initiative became highly popular in newly forming governments and thus is widespread in the Western United States. Itself a product of the Progressive Era reforms, the constitution adopted by Arizona upon admission to the Union in 1912 reflects the sentiment that direct democracy was sacred. The first section of the constitution dealing with the powers of the Legislature is quick to reserve the rights of initiative and

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

for the people. These rights are also granted specific protections, being exempt from

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

by the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

as well as not being subject to repeal by the legislature. Citizen initiatives may only be overturned by subsequent initiatives.

Process

Initiative

Initiative is the process wherein either the state statutes or the state constitution is amended through citizen action. This process begins when qualified voters (electors) submit a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

outlining the proposed amendment to the Secretary of State. This petition must then be signed by 10% of the registered voters who actually voted in the most recent gubernatorial election for statutory amendments; this percentage increases to 15% for constitutional amendments. If enough signatures are obtained the initiative will appear on the subsequent general election ballot for voter approval. A 50% majority is required for a ballot proposal to pass and become law.

Referendum

Referendum is the process wherein current legislation is referred to the voting public for approval. The legislature may choose to refer any legislation; however, any bills proposing an amendment to the state constitution must be subject to referendum. As with an initiative, only a 50% vote is required to enact the legislation. A referendum on any pending legislation may also be forced by the public in a similar manner to any initiative, requiring a petition signed by no less than 5% of the registered voters. To ensure enough time for any potential referendum, no legislation that is passed may take effect for at least 90 days. The constitution makes provisions for the passage of emergency legislation that is not subject to referendum. Such legislation must pertain to the peace, safety or health of the population, or to ensure the continued function of the state government in emergency situations. Such legislation must pass with a 2/3 majority in both houses as opposed to a simple majority.

Criticisms

As with the citizen initiative process in general, the ballot initiative process in Arizona has been subject to a number of criticisms. Concern that the initiative process is subject to overuse and abuse has increased significantly. In 2006 there were a record 19 initiatives on the general ballot, creating concern that voters could become confused or simply fatigued by the numerous choices. This has led to legislators considering steps to limit or otherwise exert more control over the initiative process

Paradoxically, any attempt to alter the initiative and referendum process would require an amendment to the state constitution, and thus in itself be put forth as a referendum. The extensive use of the initiative process in Arizona is nothing new, however. In the 1914 elections, a total of 15 initiatives were presented to Arizona voters

References