GOP lawmakers see referrals as a way around the governor but are wary as Arizona's ballot grows

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story included a resolution that is not intended for the ballot, but rather is simply a statement of support.

This fall, voters could weigh in on whether to raise teacher pay.

And to outlaw any attempt to charge a per-mile tax on driving.

And determine if people who sex-traffic minors should be sentenced to life in prison.

The list goes on. And on.

This year, there is a bumper crop of ballot referrals from state lawmakers — more than 70.

If these measures, called "concurrent resolutions," pass both the House and Senate, they go straight to the November ballot. No governor approval is needed.

It's a way to bypass Gov. Katie Hobbs and her well-worn veto stamp.

But the eagerness to dodge the governor could have a downside: a bulging ballot in November.

Election officials say the ballot for Maricopa and Pinal counties is already at two pages, front and back. And that's before the Legislature finishes its work on any of those resolutions. It's possible the ballot could grow to three pages.

It's not all due to ballot referrals, said Jen Marson, executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties. The Green and No Labels parties gained ballot status for 2024. They are likely to field candidates for president and, possibly, other offices.

Marson said adding one presidential candidate adds between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches to the ballot. That's because in addition to the name of a presidential candidate, their 11 electors are also listed.

There are also multiple ballot lines for judge retention. In Maricopa County, 48 judges from the state Supreme Court to the county superior court will be up for voter consideration.

But the wild card is the ballot propositions.

There are already four measures lawmakers referred to last year, including Proposition 479, a proposed continuation of a transportation tax in Maricopa County.

Citizen initiatives are still in the signature-gathering stage, including proposals to establish abortion rights, create open primaries and raise the minimum wage by $1 per hour. Election officials won't know until mid-to-late July how many of the initiatives qualify for the ballot.

Other regional and local issues will claim some space.

GOP leaders see referrals as a way around Hobbs, but are wary of lengthy ballots

Republican legislative leaders are mindful of consequences such as "ballot fatigue," and say they'll hold back the tide.

"The risk is everything would fail," House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, said of a long ballot.

He and Senate President Warren Petersen will sort out which referrals make it to the ballot. A key factor is whether there are campaigns planned to promote the issue. A show of organized support will be important, Toma said.

Petersen said they'd limit the referrals to the "top tier" of measures, but he wouldn't put a precise figure on it.

"There's not going to be 70," he said.

The GOP leaders said the surge in referrals is a byproduct of divided government, with Republicans controlling the Legislature and a Democrat in the governor's seat.

Democrats complain about the deluge of resolutions, although they have sponsored their share. None of those measures has passed at the halfway point of the legislative session, while several dozen GOP proposals are still alive.

"How many pages is it (the ballot) going to get?" asked House Minority Leader Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, as the House recently approved three resolutions in a row and sent them to the Senate for consideration.

"At what point do we put an end to it?"

Election officials warn of 'consequences' from multipage ballot

County election officials say it's not up to them to determine what should be on the ballot.

"We're going to build the proper ballot," Marson said. "But there are consequences of seeing multiple pages of a ballot."

They include longer lines at polling places, the risk of only one page getting returned with a mail-in ballot, poll worker mistakes when handing out a multiple-page ballot, and cost. More pages mean more paper and higher postage costs.

In a memo to legislative leaders, Marson noted the 2022 general election ballot, with 10 propositions and 85 total contests, took voters an average of 9 1/2 minutes to complete. Some voters took up to 30 minutes.

For 2024, the estimate for Maricopa County is close to 20 minutes, assuming propositions will top out at 20, Marson wrote.

If mail-in ballots come back with a missing page, there will be an opportunity to "cure" the ballot — if it's early in the voting cycle.

"As it gets closer and closer to election day, that time frame for curing is shorter," Marson said, risking the possibility that the missing page won't be counted unless a voter opts to "spoil" that ballot and cast a new one at a polling place.

It was just two years ago that Pinal County had a two-page ballot. In 2006, Maricopa County had two pages, due to a record 19 propositions.

Marson said the state appears on track to hit a similar high mark on propositions this year, meaning more ballot pages, which election officials call "cards."

"(T)hat will likely push Pinal and Maricopa to 3 cards, while possibly moving many other counties to 2 cards," Marson wrote.

She said there isn't much potential to squeeze more information onto a ballot page.

"We are pretty much at the smallest type size we can use and the longest paper we can use," Marson said.

Proposed referral could shorten future ballots

There is one possible option to reduce the biannual crush on the ballot: reduce the number of judge retention questions.

Sen. David Gowan has a proposal that could limit the long list of judges at the bottom of the ballot.

The Sierra Vista Republican's idea is to replace judge term limits with a provision that they serve as long as they exhibit good behavior. Only those who have been convicted of a felony, filed for bankruptcy, or were found to not meet judicial performance standards would be listed on the ballot.

But there's a catch: Gowan's SCR1044 is a ballot referral. It would have to take up space on the 2024 ballot and be approved by voters to take effect.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @maryjpitzl.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's 2024 ballot may be super-size as GOP eyes way around Hobbs