Arizona Proposition 132, 60% Vote Requirement for Ballot Measures to Approve Taxes Amendment (2022)
Arizona Proposition 132 | |
---|---|
Election date November 8, 2022 | |
Topic Direct democracy measures | |
Status Approved | |
Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
Arizona Proposition 132, the 60% Vote Requirement for Ballot Measures to Approve Taxes Amendment, was on the ballot in Arizona as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.[1] The measure was approved.
A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to require a 60% vote for voters to pass ballot measures to approve taxes. |
A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment, thus continuing to require a simple majority vote for all ballot measures. |
Election results
Arizona Proposition 132 |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
1,210,702 | 50.72% | |||
No | 1,176,327 | 49.28% |
Overview
What is a ballot measure?
- See also: Ballot measure
A ballot measure is a law, issue, or question that appears on a statewide or local ballot for voters of the jurisdiction to decide. In Arizona, the legislature can refer a constitutional amendment or state statute to the ballot, or citizens can petition to put a measure on the ballot as an initiated state statute or initiated constitutional amendment.
How did this amendment change ballot measure voting requirements in Arizona?
- See also: Text of the measure
Under this amendment, any measure that approves a tax would require 60% of voters to approve of the measure. As of 2022, ballot measures in Arizona were approved when a simple majority (50.01%) of voters approve them.
All other initiatives, referendums, and legislatively referred measures would continue to require a simple majority for approval.
Are there supermajority requirements for ballot measures in other states?
As of November 2022, nine states had a supermajority requirement for constitutional amendments, statutory initiatives, or both. Some states required a supermajority by vote, while other states required the amendment to have an additional requirement for gaining a certain percentage of votes cast out of all votes cast in the election, or required a supermajority for certain measures.
At the time of the election, Florida had a 60% supermajority requirement for constitutional amendments, however, any proposed constitutional amendment that required an increase in taxes had to receive a 2/3 supermajority, or 66.66% of the vote.
Mississippi, Nevada, Massachusetts, Washington, Nevada, and Wyoming had some sort of election requirement, such as the measure having a certain percentage of votes cast out of all votes cast in the election. Oregon and Washington required a supermajority for statutory initiatives that pertaind to certain subjects.
Illinois required a 3/5 supermajority for constitutional amendments.
How did this measure get on the ballot?
- See also: Path to the ballot
In Arizona, for a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to get onto the ballot, a simple majority was required in both chambers of the state legislature to place it on the ballot.
The measure was introduced as House Concurrent Resolution 2015 (HCR2015), and was primarily sponsored by Rep. Tim Dunn (R-13). The bill first passed the House on February 2, 2022. An amended version later passed the Senate on June 23, 2022, by 16-12. On June 23, 2022, the House voted 31-27 to approve the amended version. The amendment was then placed on the ballot.[1]
Text of the measure
Ballot title
The official ballot title was as follows:[2]
“ |
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Arizona; amending Article IV, Part 1, Section 1, Constitution of Arizona; amending Article XXI, Section 1, Constitution of Arizona; relating to initiative and referendum measures. Descriptive Title The constitutional amendment would require that an initiative or referendum to approve a tax receives sixty percent of the votes cast to become law. [3] |
” |
Ballot summary
The official ballot summary was as follows:[2]
“ |
A “YES” vote shall have the effect of amending the constitution to require at least sixty percent of votes cast to approve an initiative or referendum that enacts a tax. A “NO” vote shall have the effect of retaining existing law on initiative and referendum measures. [3] |
” |
Constitutional changes
The measure amended section 1 of Article IV and section 1 of Article XXI of the state constitution.[2]
The following underlined text was added, and struck-through text was deleted:[2]
Note: Use your mouse to scroll over the below text to see the full text.
Text of Section 1, Article 4: Legislative Authority; Initiative and Referendum (1) Senate; house of representatives; reservation of power to people. The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in the legislature, consisting of a senate and a house of representatives, but the people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of the legislature; and they also reserve, for use at their own option, the power to approve or reject at the polls any act, or item, section, or part of any act, of the legislature. (2) Initiative power. The first of these reserved powers is the initiative. Under this power ten (3) Referendum power; emergency measures; effective date of acts. The second of these reserved powers is the referendum. Under this power the legislature, or five (4) Initiative and referendum petitions; filing. All petitions submitted under the power of the initiative shall be known as initiative petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than four months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed are to be voted upon. All petitions submitted under the power of the referendum shall be known as referendum petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the legislature which shall have passed the measure to which the referendum is applied. The filing of a referendum petition against any item, section (5) Effective date of initiative and referendum measures. Any measure or amendment to the constitution proposed under the initiative, and any measure to which the referendum is applied, shall be referred to a vote of the qualified electors, and for an initiative and referendum to approve a tax, shall become law when approved by (6) (A) Veto of initiative or referendum. The veto power of the governor shall not extend to an initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by (6) (B) Legislature's power to repeal initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to repeal an initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by (6) (C) Legislature's power to amend initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to amend an initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by (6) (D) Legislature's power to appropriate or divert funds created by initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to appropriate or divert funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by an initiative measure that also approves a tax that is approved by (7) Number of qualified electors. The whole number of votes cast for all candidates for governor at the general election last preceding the filing of any initiative or referendum petition on a state or county measure shall be the basis on which the number of qualified electors required to sign such petition shall be computed. (8) Local, city, town or county matters. The powers of the initiative and the referendum are hereby further reserved to the qualified electors of every incorporated city, town (9) Form and contents of initiative and of referendum petitions; verification. Every initiative or referendum petition shall be addressed to the secretary of state in the case of petitions for or on state measures, and to the clerk of the board of supervisors, city clerk (10) Official ballot. When any initiative or referendum petition or any measure referred to the people by the legislature (11) Publication of measures. The text of all measures to be submitted shall be published as proposed amendments to the constitution are published, and in submitting such measures and proposed amendments the secretary of state and all other officers shall be guided by the general law until legislation shall be especially provided therefore. (12) Conflicting measures or constitutional amendments. If two or more conflicting measures or amendments to the constitution shall be approved by the people at the same election, the measure or amendment receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail in all particulars as to which there is conflict. (13) Canvass of votes; proclamation. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state, in the presence of the governor and the chief justice of the supreme court, to canvass the votes for and against each such measure or proposed amendment to the constitution within thirty days after the election, and upon the completion of the canvass the governor shall forthwith issue a proclamation, giving the whole number of votes cast for and against each measure or proposed amendment, and declaring such measures or amendments to approve a tax as are approved by (14) Reservation of legislative power. This section shall not be construed to deprive the legislature of the right to enact any measure except that the legislature shall not have the power to adopt any measure that supersedes, in whole or in part, any initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by (15) Legislature's right to refer measure to the people. Nothing in this section shall be construed to deprive or limit the legislature of the right to order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, item, section (16) Self-executing. This section of the constitution shall be, in all respects, self executing. Text of Section 1, Article 21: Introduction to Legislature; Initiative Petition; Election Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in either house of the legislature, or by initiative petition signed by a number of qualified electors equal to fifteen |
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 14, and the FRE is 12. The word count for the ballot title is 72.
The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 13, and the FRE is 46. The word count for the ballot summary is 46.
Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Rep. Tim Dunn (R)
Political Parties
Organizations
Arguments
Opposition
Will of the People Arizona was the campaign in opposition to this measure.[4]
Opponents
Political Parties
Organizations
Arguments
Campaign finance
Will of the People was the organization registered in opposition to Proposition 132.[5]
Ballotpedia did not identify ballot measure committees registered to support Proposition 132.[5]
Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Oppose | $3,030,594.73 | $184,469.36 | $3,215,064.09 | $2,966,615.28 | $3,151,084.64 |
Opposition
The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in opposition to the initiative.[5]
Committees in opposition to Proposition 132 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Committee | Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures |
Will of the People | $3,030,594.73 | $184,469.36 | $3,215,064.09 | $2,966,615.28 | $3,151,084.64 |
Total | $3,030,594.73 | $184,469.36 | $3,215,064.09 | $2,966,615.28 | $3,151,084.64 |
Donors
The following were the top donors to the committee.[5]
Donor | Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions |
---|---|---|---|
SEIU-UHW | $2,150,000.00 | $0.00 | $2,150,000.00 |
The Fairness Project | $250,000.00 | $108,593.33 | $358,593.33 |
National Education Association | $250,000.00 | $0.00 | $250,000.00 |
Every Single Vote | $70,000.00 | $0.00 | $70,000.00 |
Media editorials
- See also: 2022 ballot measure media endorsements
Support
The following media editorial boards published an editorial supporting the ballot measure:
Opposition
The following media editorial boards published an editorial opposing the ballot measure:
Background
Requirements for ballot measures in Arizona
At the time of the election, citizens of Arizona could initiate legislation as either a state statute or constitutional amendment. In Arizona, citizens also had the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. The Arizona State Legislature could place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred constitutional amendments or legislatively referred state statutes. In addition, the Arizona Commission on Salaries for Elective State Officers was one of only a few state committees that had the power to place measures on the ballot.
As of 2022, in Arizona, a ballot measure required a simple majority (50.01%) of voters to approve of the measure.
Supermajority requirements for ballot measures in other states
As of 2022, nine states had a supermajority requirement for constitutional amendments, statutory initiatives, or both.[6]
States with a supermajority requirement for constitutional amendments
- Florida: Any constitutional amendment, either a citizen-initiated measure or a legislatively referred measure, required a 60% supermajority. However, any proposed constitutional amendment that required an increase in taxes had to receive a 2/3 supermajority, or 66.66% of the vote.
- Illinois: Required a 3/5 supermajority for passage.
- Mississippi: Required a majority vote; however, the total number of votes for the initiative had to be at least 40% of the votes cast in the election.
- Nevada: Required a majority vote in two successive general elections to pass.
States with a supermajority requirement for statutory initiatives
- Massachusetts: Massachusetts initiatives, whether statutes or amendments, had to receive a simple majority of the votes cast for or against them. Moreover, at least 30% of those casting a ballot in the election had to vote in favor of the initiated measure. This did not apply to legislatively referred constitutional amendments.
- Oregon: Only ballot measures that proposed changing vote requirements required a supermajority.
- Washington: Required a majority vote; however, the total number of votes for the initiative had to be at least one-third of the votes cast in the election. Any initiated measure that would authorize gambling or a lottery required a 60% supermajority vote.
States with a supermajority requirement for both constitutional amendments and statutory initiatives
- Nebraska: Required a simple majority of the votes cast for or against the measure; however, the number of affirmative votes cast for the measure had to be greater than 35% of the total votes cast in the election.
- Wyoming: All Wyoming measures required affirmative votes from a majority of those casting a ballot in the general election--not just of those casting a vote on the measure.
Supermajority requirements in the legislature to increase taxes
As of 2022, 15 states had a supermajority voting requirement within state legislatures to increase taxes or impose new taxes.[7]
- Arizona: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Arkansas: 3/4 supermajority requirement for all taxes, except for sales and alcohol.
- California: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Delaware: 3/5 supermajority requirement
- Florida: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Kentucky: 3/5 supermajority requirement in odd-numbered years only.
- Louisiana: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Michigan: 3/4 supermajority requirement for state property taxes only
- Mississippi: 3/5 supermajority requirement
- Missouri: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Nevada: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Oklahoma: 3/4 supermajority requirement
- Oregon: 3/5 supermajority requirement
- South Dakota: 2/3 supermajority requirement
- Wisconsin: 2/3 supermajority requirement for sales, income and franchise tax increases.
Ballot measures concerning supermajority requirements, 2022
Arizona ballot measure historical facts
In Arizona, a total of 168 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2020. Eighty-nine ballot measures were approved, and 79 ballot measures were defeated.
Arizona statewide ballot measures, 1985-2020 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total number | Annual average | Annual minimum | Annual maximum | Approved | Defeated | ||
# | % | # | % | ||||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Arizona Constitution
In Arizona, a simple majority vote was required in the Arizona State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 31 votes in the Arizona House of Representatives and 16 votes in the Arizona State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
The constitutional amendment was introduced as House Concurrent Resolution 2015 (HCR 2015) during the 2022 legislative session. On February 22, 2022, the House approved HCR 201. On June 23, the Senate voted 16-12 on an amended version of the resolution. Later on June 23, the House voted 31-27 to approve the amended version.[1] With approval in both the Senate and House, the constitutional amendment was referred to the ballot.
|
|
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 timesIn 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.[8][9] Registration
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.[10] 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.[10] Automatic registrationArizona does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration
Arizona has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registrationArizona does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirementsArizona law requires 29 days of residency in the state before a person may vote. Verification of citizenshipOn 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.[11] Verifying your registrationThe site Voter View, run by the Arizona Secretary of State's office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirementsArizona requires voters to present photo identification or two forms of non-photo identification while voting.[12][13] 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:
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:
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
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Arizona State Legislature, "House Concurrent Resolution 2015," accessed February 22, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Arizona Legislature, "House Concurrent Resolution 2015," accessed July 15, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Will of the People Arizona, "Homepage," accessed Oct 14, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Arizona Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance," accessed July 7, 2022
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Supermajority Vote Requirements," accessed July 29, 2022
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Supermajority Vote Requirements to Pass the Budget," accessed July 29, 2022
- ↑ Arizona Revised Statutes, "Title 16, Section 565," accessed March 14, 2023
- ↑ Arizona generally observes Mountain Standard Time; however, the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time. Because of this, Mountain Daylight Time is sometimes observed in Arizona.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Arizona Secretary of State, "Registration Requirements," accessed March 14, 2023
- ↑ Arizona Legislature, "HB2492," accessed March 14, 2023
- ↑ ArizonaElections.gov, "What ID Do I Need to Vote Quiz," accessed March 14, 2023
- ↑ FindLaw.com, "Arizona Revised Statutes Title 16. Elections and Electors § 16-579. Procedure for obtaining ballot by elector," accessed March 14, 2023
State of Arizona Phoenix (capital) | |
---|---|
Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |