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HB2508 - 572R - I Ver
REFERENCE TITLE:
ballot measures; descriptive title; summary
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HB 2508
Introduced by
Representatives
Stahl Hamilton: Abeytia, Blattman, Cavero, Connolly, Contreras P, Crews, De
Los Santos, Garcia, Gutierrez, Liguori, Sandoval, Simacek, Travers, Villegas
AN
ACT
amending section 19-125, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to initiative and referendum.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 19-125, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
19-125.
Form of ballot
A. The secretary of state, at the time the secretary
of state transmits to the clerks of the boards of supervisors a certified copy
of the name of each candidate for public office, shall transmit to each clerk a
certified copy of the official title, the descriptive title and the number of
each measure and proposed amendment to the constitution to be voted on at the
ensuing regular general election.
B. Proposed constitutional amendments shall be
numbered consecutively beginning with the number one hundred, proposed
initiative measures shall be numbered consecutively beginning with the number
two hundred, measures submitted under the referendum shall be numbered
consecutively beginning with the number three hundred, and county and local
issues shall be numbered consecutively beginning with the number four hundred.�
Numbering shall be consecutive based on the order in which the initiative or
referendum petitions are filed with the secretary of
state. Individual numbering shall continue from the last number used
in the previous election and shall not be repeated until all one hundred
numbers in that series have been used.� Proposed constitutional amendments
shall be placed by themselves at the head of the ballot column, followed by
initiated and referred measures in that order. The number assigned
to the measure by the secretary of state constitutes the official title of the
measure and shall be used for identification of the measure by the state and
the county in all subsequent official election materials, including the
publicity pamphlet.
C. The officer in charge of elections shall print
the official title and the descriptive title of each measure on the official
ballot in the order presented to him by the secretary of state unless otherwise
provided by law. The number of the measure shall be in reverse type
and at least twelve point type. A proposed constitutional amendment
shall be designated "proposed amendment to the constitution by the
legislature", or "proposed amendment to the constitution by the
initiative", as the case may be. A measure referred by the
legislature shall be designated "referred to the people by the
legislature", a measure referred by petition shall be designated
"referendum ordered by petition of the people" and a measure proposed
by initiative petition shall be designated "proposed by initiative
petition".
D. A descriptive title shall be printed on the
official ballot immediately below the number of the measure and the official
title of each measure. The descriptive title shall contain
a
an impartial
summary of the
principal provisions of the measure, not to exceed fifty words, which shall be
prepared by the secretary of state and approved by the attorney general
.
and shall include
At
least thirty days before the earliest date that the official ballots and
publicity pamphlet are sent to be printed, the secretary of state and the
attorney general shall prominently post the approved impartial summary on their
respective websites, and the secretary of state shall provide a copy of the
impartial summary to the committee that filed the ballot measure, if any. The
impartial summary shall include
the following
,
or
the ballot shall comply with subsection F of this section:
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of
______________________
.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of
_______________________
.
The blank spaces shall be filled with a
brief phrase, approved by the attorney general, stating the essential change in
the existing law should the measure receive a majority of votes cast in that
particular manner.� In the case of a referendum, a "yes" vote shall
have the effect of approving the legislative enactment that is being referred.�
The "yes" and "no" language shall be posted on the
secretary of state's website after being approved by the attorney general and
before the date on which the official ballots and the publicity pamphlet are
sent to be printed.� Below the statement of effect of a "yes" vote
and effect of a "no" vote there shall be printed the corresponding
words "yes" and "no" and a place for the voter to put a
mark as defined in section 16-400 indicating the voter's preference.
E. In addition to the information prescribed by
subsection D of this section, for state statutory measures, the officer in
charge of elections shall print on the official ballot immediately before the
first proposed state statutory initiative measure and immediately before the
first proposed state statutory measure submitted under the referendum the
following statement:� "Notice:� Pursuant to proposition 105 (1998), these
measures cannot be changed in the future if approved on the ballot except by a
three-fourths vote of the members of each house of the legislature and if the
change furthers the purpose of the original ballot measure, by an initiative
petition or by referring the change to the ballot."
F. Instead of printing the official and descriptive
titles or the full text of each measure or question on the official ballot, the
officer in charge of elections may print phrases on the official ballot that
contain all of the following:
1. The number of the measure in reverse type and at
least twelve point type.
2. The designation of the measure as prescribed by
subsection C of this section or as a question, proposition or charter
amendment, followed by the words "relating to..." and inserting the
subject.
3. Either the statement prescribed by subsection D
of this section that describes the effects of a "yes" vote and a
"no" vote or, for other measures, the text of the question or
proposition.
4. The words "yes" and "no" or
"for" and "against", as may be appropriate and a place for
the voter to put a mark.
5. For state statutory measures, immediately before
the first proposed state statutory initiative measure and immediately before
the first proposed state statutory measure submitted under the referendum the
following statement:� "Notice:� Pursuant to proposition 105 (1998), these
measures cannot be changed in the future if approved on the ballot except by a
three-fourths vote of the members of each house of the legislature and if the
change furthers the purpose of the original ballot measure, by an initiative
petition or by referring the change to the ballot."
G. For any ballot printed pursuant to subsection F
of this section, the instructions on the official ballot shall direct the voter
to the full text of the official and descriptive titles and the questions and
propositions as printed on the sample ballot and posted in the polling place.
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