HB2613 - 551R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Repeal

Sections 19-102.01 and 19-111.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, are repealed.

Sec. 2. Title 19, chapter 1, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section 19-111.01, to read:

START_STATUTE19-111.01. Approval of description; attorney general; challenge

At any time before a person or organization submits an application for initiative petition or referendum petition, a political committee that intends to file that application may submit the proposed description of the principal provisions of the measure prescribed by section 19-101 or 19-102 to the attorney general for a DETERMINATION of whether the DESCRIPTION is lawful and sufficient. Within ten days After submittal to the attorney general, the attorney GENERAL shall approve or reject the description and, if rejected, shall state the reasons for the rejection. If approved, any challenge to the DESCRIPTION shall be filed in the superior court within ten days after the attorney general's approval.END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 19-118, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE19-118. Registered circulators; requirements; violation; classification; definition

A. For statewide initiative and referendum measures only, all circulators who are not residents of this state and all paid circulators must register as circulators with the secretary of state before circulating petitions pursuant to this title. The committee that is circulating the petition shall collect and submit the completed registration applications to the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall establish in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16‑452 a procedure for registering circulators, including circulator registration applications, and shall publish on a website maintained by the secretary of state all information regarding circulators that is required pursuant to this section. The secretary of state shall disqualify all signatures collected by a circulator who fails to register pursuant to this subsection as provided for in section 19‑121.01, subsection A.

B. The circulator registration application required by subsection A of this section shall require the following:

1. The circulator's full name, residence address, telephone number and email address.

2. The initiative or referendum petition on which the circulator will gather signatures.

3. A statement that the circulator consents to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state in resolving any disputes concerning the circulation of petitions by that circulator.

4. The address of the committee in this state for which the circulator is gathering signatures and at which the circulator will accept service of process related to disputes concerning circulation of that circulator's petitions. Service of process is effected under this section by delivering a copy of the subpoena to that person individually, by leaving a copy of the subpoena with a person of suitable age or by mailing a copy of the subpoena to the committee by certified mail to the address provided.

5. An affidavit from the registered circulator that is signed by the circulator before a notary public and that includes the following declaration:

I, (print name) , under penalty of a class 1 misdemeanor, acknowledge that I am eligible to register as a circulator in the state of Arizona, that all of the information provided is correct to the best of my knowledge and that I have read and understand Arizona election laws applicable to the collection of signatures for a statewide initiative or referendum.

C. Within five business days after submission and review of a complete and correct circulator registration application that complies with this section, the secretary of state shall register and assign a circulator registration number to the circulator.

D. A person may not register as a circulator pursuant to this section if the person:

1. Has had a civil or criminal penalty imposed for a violation of title 16 or this title within the immediately preceding five years.

2. Has been convicted of treason or a felony and has not been restored to civil rights as described in section 16‑101, subsection A, paragraph 5.

3. Has been convicted of any criminal offense involving fraud, forgery or identity theft.

E. If a registered circulator is properly served with a subpoena to provide evidence in an action regarding circulation of petitions and fails to appear or produce documents as provided for in the subpoena, all a court may enforce the subpoena against the circulator as otherwise provided By law. On PRESENTATION of independent sufficient evidence that the CIRCULATOR is INELIGIBLE to circulate petitions or ENGAGED in fraud with respect to some or all of the signatures obtained, the court may order that those signatures collected by that circulator are deemed invalid. The party serving the subpoena may request an order from the court directing the secretary of state to remove any signatures collected by the circulator as on the grounds provided for in section 19‑121.01, subsection A.

F. Any person may challenge the lawful registration of circulators in the superior court of the county in which the circulator is registered. A challenge may not be commenced more than ten business days after the date that the secretary of state's office has received, processed and made available all final petition sheets individually numbered. The person challenging signatures may amend that complaint after the secretary of state has removed signatures and signature sheets as prescribed in section 19‑121.01. An action pursuant to this section shall be advanced on the calendar and decided by the court as soon as possible. Either party may appeal to the supreme court within five calendar days after entry of judgment. The prevailing party in an action to challenge the registration of a circulator under this section is entitled to reasonable attorney fees.

G. The removal or disqualification of any one or more circulators does not invalidate the random sample of signatures made pursuant to section 19‑121.01, and the secretary of state shall not be required to conduct any additional random sampling of signatures.

H. A person who knowingly omits or misrepresents information or provides false information on a circulator registration application or who registers in violation of this section is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

I. For the purposes of this title, "paid circulator":

1. Means a natural person who receives monetary or other compensation for obtaining signatures on a statewide initiative or referendum petition or for circulating statewide initiative or referendum petitions for signatures.

2. Does not include a paid employee of any political committee organized pursuant to title 16, chapter 6, unless that employee has or will obtain two hundred or more signatures on an initiative, referendum or recall petition in an election cycle. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 19-125, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE19-125. Form of ballot

A. The secretary of state, at the time he the secretary or 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. There A descriptive title shall be printed on the official ballot immediately below the number of the measure and the official title of each measure a descriptive title containing a and shall contain 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 that includes 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 E 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 his the voter's preference.

E. 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.

F. For any ballot printed pursuant to subsection E 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. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Legislative intent; right of initiative and referendum

After many years of restricting the people's right to legislate by initiative and referendum, it is the intent of the legislature by this act to restore some of the rights of the people regarding their reserved powers to legislate, which are guaranteed by article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona.