Arizona Proposition 131, Create Office of Lieutenant Governor Amendment (2022)

Arizona Proposition 131
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic State executive official measures
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Arizona Proposition 131, the Create Office of Lieutenant Governor Amendment, was on the ballot in Arizona as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to create the position of lieutenant governor, who would be elected on a joint ticket with the governor, and who would succeed the governor in case of a vacancy.

A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment to create the position of lieutenant governor.

Election results

Arizona Proposition 131
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		1,299,484	55.16%
No		1,056,433	44.84%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did the measure change?

Proposition 131 created the position of lieutenant governor in Arizona. Previously, Arizona was one of five states without a lieutenant governor.

Under Proposition 131, the state's lieutenant governor is elected on a joint ticket with the governor. As of 2022, 26 states elected the governor and lieutenant governor on a joint ticket. The ballot measure required gubernatorial candidates to select running mates at least 60 days before the general election, although the legislature is permitted to prescribe a different date. The first election for a joint governor and lieutenant governor ticket is on November 3, 2026.

Proposition 131 required that if the incumbent governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the lieutenant governor would succeed to the governor's office. Previously, the secretary of state succeeded to the governor's office in these situations. In Arizona's history, the secretary of state had succeeded the office of governor six times.

Under Proposition 131, if the lieutenant governor's office becomes vacant, the governor appoints a person to serve as lieutenant governor, subject to legislative approval.

What is the role of lieutenant governor?

In most states, the role of lieutenant governor is to assume duties of the governor if the governor is out of state or incapacitated. If the current governor dies in office, resigns, or retires, the lieutenant governor takes over the office of governor. The other roles of lieutenant governor vary by state, but many preside over the upper chamber of the state legislature, take other legislative duties, or head executive departments.

This ballot measure is designed to have the legislature prescribe the duties of lieutenant governor.

What is the gubernatorial line of succession in Arizona?

As of November 2022, the secretary of state will take office if the governor dies, resigns, or retires. The next in line is the attorney general, followed by the treasurer, and then the superintendent of public instruction. The line of succession is outlined in Article 5, Section 6 in the Arizona Constitution.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot title was as follows:

“

Proposition 131 Proposed amendment to the constitution by the legislature relating to the executive department Official Title Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Arizona; amending Article V, Section 1, Constitution of Arizona, as amended by Proposition 100, election of November 3, 1992; amending Article V, sections 6 and 9, Constitution of Arizona; relating to the executive department. Descriptive Title The constitutional amendment would create a new executive officer who would be elected on a joint ticket with the govenor and succeed to the Office of Governor in the event of the governor’s death, removal from office, or disability to discharge the duties of the office.

”

Ballot summary

The official ballot summary was as follows:

“

A “YES” vote shall have the effect of amending the constitution to create the office of Lieutenant Governor beginning with the 2026 election; requiring that a nominee for Governor name a nominee for Lieutenant Governor to be jointly elected; replacing the Secretary of State with the Lieutenant Governor as first in the line of succession to the office of Governor; and provide that the Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction may succeed to the office of Governor regardless of whether they were elected. A “NO” vote shall have the effect of retaining the current executive branch and existing law on executive succession.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article 5, Arizona Constitution

The ballot measure amended Section 1, Section 6, and Section 9 of Article 5 of the Arizona Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:

Note: Use your mouse to scroll over the below text to see the full text.

Section 1 of Article 5 A. The executive department shall consist of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom shall hold office for four years beginning on the first Monday of January, 1971 next after the regular general election in 1970. B. The person having the highest number of the votes cast for the office voted for shall be elected, but if two or more persons have an equal and the highest number of votes for the office, the two houses of the legislature at its next regular session shall elect forthwith, by joint ballot, one of such persons for said office. C. Not later than sixty days before the general election unless the legislature prescribes otherwise by statute, each nominee for the office of governor shall name a lieutenant governor nominee and shall run on a ticket as a joint candidate in the general election with that nominee for the office of lieutenant governor. The name of the nominee for lieutenant governor shall appear on the ballot with or below the name of the joint nominee for governor in a manner that indicates they are running on a ticket as joint candidates. At the general election, a single vote for a nominee for governor shall constitute a vote for that nominee's ticket, including the nominee for lieutenant governor. For any winning candidate for governor at the general election, that winning candidate's joint candidate for lieutenant governor is the winning candidate for lieutenant governor. C. D. The officers of the executive department during their terms of office shall reside at the seat of government where they shall keep their offices and the public records, books, and papers. They shall perform such duties as are prescribed by the constitution and as may be provided by law. Section 6 of Article 5 A. In the event of the death of the governor, or his the governor's resignation, removal from office, or permanent disability to discharge the duties of the office, the secretary of state, if holding by election, lieutenant governor shall succeed to the office of governor until his a successor shall be elected and shall qualify. If B. In the event of the death of the lieutenant governor, or the lieutenant governor's resignation, removal from office or permanent disability to discharge the duties of the office, the governor shall appoint a person to serve as lieutenant governor, subject to approval by a majority vote of the members of each house of the legislature. C. If a vacancy in the office of governor occurs with or during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, the secretary of state be holding otherwise than by election, or shall fail to qualify as governor, the attorney general, the state treasurer, or the superintendent of public instruction, if holding by election, shall, in the order named, succeed to the office of governor. D. The taking of the oath of office as governor by any person specified in this section shall constitute resignation from the office by virtue of the holding of which he the person qualifies as governor. Any successor to the office shall become governor in fact and entitled to all of the emoluments, powers and duties of governor upon on taking the oath of office. E. In the event of the impeachment of the governor, his the governor's absence from the state, or other temporary disability to discharge the duties of the office, the powers and duties of the office of governor shall devolve upon on the same person as in case of vacancy, but only until the disability ceases. Section 9 of Article 5 The powers and duties of lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, attorney-general, and superintendent of public instruction shall be as prescribed by law.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 13, and the FRE is 20. The word count for the ballot title is 99.

The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 16, and the FRE is 26. The word count for the ballot summary is 107.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Sen. Sean Bowie (D)
• State Sen. Javan Daniel Mesnard (R)

Political Parties

• Republican Party of Arizona

Organizations

• National Lieutenant Governors Association

Arguments

• State Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R-17); State Sen. Sean Bowie (D-18): "Fixing this gap in Arizona’s officers is a nonpartisan issue. It’s about good governance. That’s why Republican and Democratic legislators came together to champion Prop 131, and why it passed the legislature with broad, bipartisan support. It requires each gubernatorial nominee to select a running mate to serve as Lt. Governor, similar to how the President selects a Vice President, with both names appearing on the ballot. To ensure the new office doesn’t “grow government,” the law requires the Lt. Governor to occupy an existing high-level executive position within the governor’s administration, such as Chief of Staff or agency director."
• Pinny Sheoran, president of the League of Women Voters of Arizona: "The League of Women Voters of Arizona supports this amendment to strengthen the executive branch of state government, and to integrate its administration by centralizing authority and responsibility in the governor’s office. The League of Women Voters of Arizona believes that a clear line of succession in the Executive Branch of the State of Arizona should be more obvious to the public than it is in the current system where the Secretary of State assumes the role of Governor in times of absence, removal, resignation, death or other such changes. To avoid mid-term changes in party, continuity problems or policy reversals, League of Women Voters of Arizona supports the creation of an Office of Lieutenant Governor with duties separate from that of the Secretary of State."
• Dr. Kelli Ward, chairwoman of the Republican Party of Arizona; Yvonne Cahill, secretary of the Republican Party of Arizona: "Some key points are this proposition does not expand government nor does it create another agency since the governor will appoint this individual to the executive branch. Additionally, the continuity of the government is important. Arizona is one of only a few states nationwide without a Lt. Governor position. In the vacancy or absence of the governor, the Lt. Governor would fill the role and responsibilities. A clear succession line is important and should stay within the elected party of power from the previous election cycle."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Arizona ballot measures

Ballotpedia did not identify ballot measure committees registered to support or oppose the ballot measure.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

Prior ballot measures

Voters in Arizona had twice rejected ballot measures to create the position of lieutenant governor.

• In 1994, 65.3% of voters rejected Proposition 100, which would have created the position of lieutenant governor and required the joint election of the governor and lieutenant governor.
• In 2010, 59.2% of voters rejected Proposition 111, which would have replaced the secretary of state with the lieutenant governor and required the joint election of the governor and lieutenant governor.

Historical successions to the governor's office in Arizona

As of 2022, the Arizona Constitution stated that the secretary of state is first in the line of succession to the governor's office if the governor vacates the office. Between 1912—when Arizona became a state—and 2022, the secretary of state succeeded the governor due to a vacancy in the governor's office on six occasions. Twice—in 1988 and 2008—the successions caused a change in partisan control of the governor's office. The following is a list of successions:

• Gov. Sidney Osborn (D) died in office on May 25, 1948, and Secretary of State Dan Garvey (D) succeeded Osborn as governor.

• Gov. Raul Castro (D) resigned from office on October 20, 1977, and Secretary of State Wesley Bolin succeeded Castro as governor.

• Gov. Wesley Bolin (D) died in office on March 4, 1978, and Secretary of State Bruce Babbitt succeeded Bolin as governor.

• Gov. Evan Mecham (R) was impeached and removed from office on April 4, 1988, and Secretary of State Rose Mofford (D) succeeded Mecham as governor.

• Gov. Fife Symington (R) resigned from office on September 5, 1997, and Secretary of State Jane Hull (R) succeeded Symington as governor.

• Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) resigned from office on January 21, 2009, and Secretary of State Jan Brewer (R) succeeded Napolitano as governor.

Lieutenant governor selection process across states

In 26 states, the lieutenant governor is selected on a ticket with the governor, meaning that lieutenant gubernatorial candidates serve as running mates to gubernatorial candidates, with the winning gubernatorial candidate's running mate becoming lieutenant governor. In eight of these states, there are separate primaries for governor and lieutenant governor, with the winning candidate in each primary appearing on the general election ticket. In the remaining 18 states, gubernatorial candidates may pick their own running mates in a similar fashion to presidential candidates. In 17 states, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the title of lieutenant governor is given to the president of the state Senate.

• Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary and elected in separate general election (17): Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington
• Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary but runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in general election (7): Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
• Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial candidate before primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial candidate in both the primary and general election (9): Alaska, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah
• Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial nominee after primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in the general election (10): Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota
• Lt. gov. is a member of the legislature (2): Tennessee, West Virginia
• Lt. gov. office does not exist in state (5): Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming

Referred amendments on the ballot in Arizona

From 1985 to 2020, the state legislature voted to refer 73 constitutional amendments to voters, who approved 44 and rejected 29. The following table provides information on legislatively referred constitutional amendments in Arizona from 1985 to 2020:

Referred statutes on the ballot in Arizona, 1985-2020
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
73	44	60.3%	29	39.7%	4.1	4.0	0	8

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Arizona Constitution

In Arizona, a simple majority vote is required in the Arizona State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 31 votes in the Arizona House of Representatives and 16 votes in the Arizona State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

The constitutional amendment was introduced as Senate Concurrent Resolution 1024 (SCR 1024) during the 2022 legislative session. On March 2, 2022, the Senate voted 21-6 to pass the resolution. On June 23, 2022, the House voted 43-15 to pass the resolution. With approval in both the Senate and House, the constitutional amendment was referred to the ballot.

Vote in the Arizona State Senate March 2, 2022
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 16  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	21	6	3
Total percent	70.00%	20.00%	10.00%
Democrat	6	5	3
Republican	15	1	0

Vote in the Arizona House of Representatives June 23, 2022
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 31  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	43	15	2
Total percent	71.66%	25%	3.33%
Democrat	13	14	2
Republican	30	1	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Arizona

Click "Show" to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Arizona.

How to cast a vote in Arizona

Poll times In Arizona, all polling places are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Registration Check your voter registration status here. To vote in Arizona, one must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of an Arizona county. A voter must be 18 years or older on or before Election Day. To be eligible to vote in an election one must register at least 29 days prior to the election. Individuals can register online, in person at the county recorder's office, or by mail. Automatic registration Arizona does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Arizona has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration Arizona does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirements Arizona law requires 29 days of residency in the state before a person may vote. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States On March 30, 2022, Governor Doug Ducey (R) signed HB2492 into law. HB2492 requires that voters submitting registration forms not produced by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission submit proof of citizenship along with their registration forms. In the case of registration forms produced by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, HB2492 requires election officials to "use all available resources to verify the citizenship status" of applicants. Should officials be unable to verify a voter's citizenship status, that voter will be barred from voting in a presidential election or by mail in any election, pending submission of proof of citizenship. Should officials determine that a voter is not a citizen, officials will be required to forward the registration application to the county attorney and the attorney general for investigation. Officials who fail to comply with these requirements are guilty of a Class 6 felony. Verifying your registration The site Voter View, run by the Arizona Secretary of State's office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Arizona requires voters to present photo identification or two forms of non-photo identification while voting. The following were accepted forms of identification as of March 2023: Click here for the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information. Voters can present one of the following forms of ID that contain the voter’s photograph, name, and address: Driver’s license U.S. federal, state, or local government-issued ID, issued with printed name and address Arizona ID card Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal ID If a voter does not have one of the above forms of ID, the voter can present two of the following forms of ID that contain the voter’s name and address: Utility bill in the voter's name Bank or credit union statement that is dated within 90 days of the date of the election Valid Arizona vehicle registration Arizona vehicle insurance card Indian census card Property tax statement Recorder's certificate or voter registration card Tribal enrollment card or other tribal ID Valid U.S. federal, state, or local government-issued ID with a printed name and address or Any mailing in the voter's name that is labeled "official election material"   Additionally, if a voter presents photo ID that does not list an address within the precinct in which he or she wants to cast a vote, that person may present the photo ID with one non-photo identification material from the second list above. The identification material should include the voter’s address.

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• State executive official measures on the ballot
• 2022 legislative sessions

Arizona

• Arizona ballot measures
• Arizona ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Arizona Senate Concurrent Resolution 1024 (2022)