SB1097 - 562R

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

Section 1. Section 15-422, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-422. Nominating petitions; ballots; partisan designation

A. Nominating petitions shall be filed with the county school superintendent as prescribed by title 16, chapter 3. Nominating petitions shall be signed by a number of qualified electors of the district as provided in section 16-322. Nominating petitions for persons seeking to fill a vacancy on a governing board shall be designated as provided in section 16-314.

B. The county school superintendent may cause separate ballots to be prepared, or such the names of candidates for school district candidates' names governing board may be included as a part of the regular ballot. In any event The names of all persons whose petitions have been filed shall appear on a ballot, without with each candidate's partisan or other designation except the and title of the office being sought. For the purposes of this subsection, the partisan designation shall be the political party of which the candidate is a qualified elector one hundred twenty days before the day of the primary election for the election cycle in which the individual is a candidate. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 16-502, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-502. Form and contents of ballot

A. Ballots shall be printed with black ink on white paper of sufficient thickness to prevent the printing thereon from being discernible from the back, and the same type shall be used for the names of all candidates. The ballots shall be headed "official ballot" in bold-faced plain letters, with a heavy rule above and below the heading. Immediately below shall be placed the words "type of election, (date of election)" and the name of the county and state in which the election is held. The name or number of the precinct in which the election is held shall be placed on the ballot in a uniform location for all ballots. No other matter shall be placed or printed at the head of any ballot. Instructions to the voter on marking the ballot may be printed below the heading as follows:

1. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the name of each candidate for each office for whom you wish to vote.

2. If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not printed on the ballot, write such name in the blank space provided on the ballot and put a mark according to the instructions next to the name so written.

3. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the word "yes" or "for" for each proposition or question you wish to be adopted. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the word "no" or "against" for each proposition or question you wish not to be adopted.

B. Immediately below the ballot instructions shall be placed the following:

Section One

Partisan Ballot

C. Immediately below the heading for section one there shall be placed in columns the names of the candidates of the several political parties. Next to each candidate's name there shall be printed in bold-faced letters the name of the political party. At the head of each column shall be printed the names of the offices to be filled with the name of each office being of uniform type size. At the head of each column shall be printed in the following order the names of candidates for:

1. Presidential electors, which shall be in a list and next to the list shall be printed in bold type the surname of the presidential candidate, and the surname of the vice presidential candidate who is seeking election jointly with the presidential candidate shall be listed directly below the name of the presidential candidate. The indicator for the selection of the presidential and vice presidential candidates shall be directly next to the surname of the presidential candidate, and one mark directly next to a presidential candidate's surname shall be counted as a vote for each elector in the list next to the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

2. United States senator.

3. Representatives in Congress.

4. The several state offices.

5. The several county, school district governing board and precinct offices.

D. The names of candidates for the offices of state senator and state representative along with the district number shall be placed within the heading of each column to the right of the office name for state offices and immediately below the candidates for the office of governor. The number of the supervisorial district of which a candidate is a nominee shall be printed within the heading of each column to the right of the name of the office.

E. The lists of the candidates of the several parties shall be arranged with the names of the parties in descending order according to the votes cast for governor for that county in the most recent general election for the office of governor, commencing with the left-hand column. In the case of political parties that did not have candidates on the ballot in the last general election, such parties shall be listed in alphabetical order below the parties that did have candidates on the ballot in the last general election. The names of all candidates nominated under section 16-341 shall be placed in a single column below that of the recognized parties. Next to the name of each candidate, in parentheses, shall be printed a three-letter abbreviation that is taken from the three words prescribed in the candidate's certificate of nomination.

F. Immediately below the designation of the office to be voted for shall appear the words: "Vote for not more than _________" (insert the number to be elected).

G. In each column at the right or left of the name of each candidate and on the same line there shall be a place for the voter to put a mark. Below the name of the last named candidate for each office there shall be as many blank lines as there are offices of the same title to be filled, with a place for the voter to put a mark. On the blank line the voter may write the name of any person for whom the voter desires to vote whose name is not printed, and next to the name so written the voter shall designate his choice by a mark as in the case of printed names.

H. When there are two or more candidates of the same political party for the same office, or more than one candidate for a judicial office, the names of all such candidates shall be so alternated on the ballots used in each election district that the name of each candidate shall appear substantially an equal number of times in each possible location. If there are fewer or the same number of candidates seeking office than the number to be elected, the rotation of names is not required and the names shall be placed in alphabetical order.

I. Immediately below section one of the ballot shall be placed the following:

Section Two

Nonpartisan Ballot

J. Immediately below the heading for section two shall be placed the names of the candidates for justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, judges of the superior court standing for retention or rejection pursuant to article VI, section 38, Constitution of Arizona, judges of the superior court standing for election pursuant to article VI, section 12, Constitution of Arizona, school district officials and other nonpartisan officials in a column or in columns without partisan or other designation except the title of office in an order determined by the officer in charge of the election.

K. Immediately below the offices listed in subsection J of this section, the ballot shall contain a separate heading of any nonpartisan office for a vacant unexpired term and shall include the expiration date of the term of the vacated office.

L. All proposed constitutional amendments and other propositions or questions to be submitted to the voters shall be printed immediately below the names of candidates for nonpartisan positions in such order as the secretary of state, or if a city or town election, the city or town clerk, designates. Placement of county and local charter amendments, propositions or questions shall be determined by the officer in charge of the election. Except as provided by section 19-125, each proposition or question shall be followed by the words "yes" and "no" or "for ______" and "against ______" as the nature of the proposition or question requires, and at the right or left of and next to each of such words shall be a place for the voter to put a mark according to the instructions that is similar in size to those places appearing opposite the names of the candidates, in which the voter may indicate his vote for or against such proposition or question by a mark as defined in section 16-400.

M. 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 twelve-point type.

2. The designation of the measure as prescribed by section 19-125, subsection C or as a question, proposition or charter amendment, followed by the words "relating to..." and inserting the subject.

3. Either the statement prescribed by section 19-125, subsection D 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.

N. For any ballot printed pursuant to subsection M 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. 3. Applicability

Sections 15-422 and 16-502, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, apply to school district governing board elections held on or after January 1, 2025.