You can start Wednesday.
That’s when early ballots for the general election go out. And if you’re unwilling to wait for the mail, there are remote early voting locations in every county.
This year’s ballot is led by fight for who will get the state’s 11 electors, something that could matter depending on the outcome in other swing states. There also is the highly watched race nationally of whether Republican Kari Lake or Democrat Ruben Gallego will replace Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema who bowed out.
Also on a statewide basis, there are three seats up for grabs on the Arizona Corporation Commission. And voters statewide will get to decide whether Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick and Kathryn King get six-year terms — though those individual decisions could be overridden.
But it is the 13 propositions that could have a lasting impact on Arizona — if for no other reason than they are more or less permanent.
Note that measures in the 100 series are constitutional proposals whether placed on the ballot by the Legislature (133 through 138) or voters (139 and 140).
Those 300-level ballot measures are statutory changes lawmakers could legally approve themselves but have been instead put on the ballot, some of these because the Republican-controlled Legislature could not get them signed by the governor.
Proposition 133: Guarantees that each political party gets to put its own nominees on the general election ballot. It is designed in part as an alternative to the voter-proposed Prop 140 which would instead create a system of nonpartisan primaries.
Proposition 134: Adds new requirement to ballot measures, requiring proponents to get the requisite number of signatures from each of the 30 legislative districts. Now, circulators can get needed signatures — equal to 10% of those who voted in last gubernatorial race for statutory changes and 15% for constitutional amendment — from any part of the state.
Proposition 135: Increases the power of the Legislature to curtail or override a declaration of emergency declared by the governor. This is an outgrowth of the COVID emergency declared by then-Gov. Doug Ducey which lasted two years, complete at one point with a stay-at-home order and business closures.
Proposition 136: This would permit foes to go into court even before enactment to contest other constitutional issues, potentially getting courts to short-circuiting an election. That issue arose in 2020 with a ballot measure to impose a 3.5% income tax surcharge on earnings of more than $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Proposition 137: Supreme Court justices and judges of the Court of Appeals and superior courts of Pima, Maricopa, Pinal and Coconino County are appointed by the governor. That would not change. What would is the current requirement they stand for reelection regularly on a retain-or-reject basis. Only judges who had specific issues like a personal bankruptcy, felony conviction or found to not meet standards by the Commission on Judicial Performance Review would have to be on the ballot. Everyone else could serve until mandatory retirement age of 70. .
Proposition 138: Voters in 2006 and again in 2016 approved a state minimum wage adjusted annually for inflation. It will be $14.70 in January. It also allows employers of tipped workers to pay them $3 an hour less — $11.70 in January — as long as their pay, with wages, hits that minimum. This proposal by the Arizona Restaurant Association would boost the credit to 25% of the minimum, lowering what restaurants have to pay out of their own pocket to $11.03.
Proposition 139: This measure would put a right to terminate a pregnancy into the Arizona Constitution, with no state interference prior to fetal viability — generally 22 to 24 weeks — and the ability to have an abortion after that if a health provider decided it was necessary to protect the life or the mental or physical health of the mother. Proposition 140: The other side of
Proposition 133. This would eliminate partisan primaries in all federal, state and local races, with all candidates running against each other and all registered voters allowed to cast ballots. It would be up to the Legislature — or the secretary of state if lawmakers default -- to determine how many advance to the general election.
Proposition 311: This would add a $20 surcharge to any criminal fine, with the funds earmarked for a $250,000 death benefit to the surviving spouse or children of a first responder who is killed in the line of duty as the result of another person’s criminal act. It also would increase the punishment for committing an aggravated assault against a peace officer and added other first responders to that list, like firefights and paramedics. Supporters say this provides additional benefits that may help recruit and keep officers. But foes note that there already are multiple benefits available.
Proposition 312: This is designed to provide property tax relief to people who say the failure of cities, towns or counties to enforce laws dealing with the homeless, like loitering, public camping and public urination, has affected them. The reimbursement would be for documented expenses to “mitigate” the harms caused to their properties, with payments up to the amount of property tax due available for each year there are problems.
Proposition 313: This measure would make those convicted of certain child sex trafficking offenses sentenced to a life term. Others question the deterrent effect. And they say that not all cases are the same and some discretion should be left for judge to consider individual circumstances like mental health, remorse, addiction or the person’s background.
Proposition 314: This is a catch-all billed by proponents as a way to secure the border. The main provision would allow state and local police to arrest anyone who crosses the border at other than a port of entry. Backers say they would have to have actual evidence and not just be able to stop someone far from the border. Another section makes it a state crime to submit false documents when applying for public benefits. A third criminalizes submitting false documents to an employer to evade having their legal presence verified. And a fourth provides for increased penalties for the sale of fentanyl if the drug causes the death of another person.
Proposition 315: This is an effort by Republican lawmakers to curtail the ability of state agencies to enact rules. It would require any agency to submit for review any rule that would increase regulatory costs by more than $100,000 within five years.