/ Modified jul 9, 2018 11:12 a.m.

Initiatives Still Face Tough Road to Ballot

Four groups turned in enough signatures, but there is no guarantee voters will see the initiatives.

I voted hero
Vox Efx

Four petition drives turned in more than enough signatures get policy questions on the November ballot, but that is no guarantee those issues will make it to voters.

Now, the secretary of state's office begins reviewing the paperwork to make sure it is all in order. The petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures are then sent to the counties for signature checks.

This year, for the first time citizen initiatives face a higher level of scrutiny called strict compliance.

"When a candidate files a signature, so long as the signature matches, it is good," said political consultant Barrett Marson.

However, if a citizen group turns in petitions that are missing addresses, or have other errors, a judge can throw out the signature.

If enough signatures are thrown out the petition could not make the ballot.

More than two dozen groups were trying to get initiatives on the November 2018 ballot. Four turned in the paperwork by the July 5 deadline.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona