Referendum Petitions, Fall 2021
The AZ Legislature passed bills this year that will:
- cut deeply into voter-approved education funding, and
- make it harder to vote
These bills will go into effect at the end of September UNLESS we get enough registered voters to sign petitions to “refer” them to the 2022 general election. This would put the bills on hold until citizens get a chance to approve or reject them. The petitions must be turned in by September 25th.
You will have a chance to sign these six petitions at the outdoor UUCP event at Grenada Park on Saturday, September 11, from 9:00-11:00 am. If you cannot attend that event, you can email us at civicengagement@phoenixuu.org if you need someone to bring the petitions to you.
Education-Related Referendums
If a sufficient number of signatures is obtained on all three of these, the effect would be to:
- Restore billions in critically needed funding cut by the legislature in June 2021. This would solve the teacher shortage crisis, lower class sizes, add more aides and counselors, and expand career and technical education.
- Prevent Arizona legislators from overturning the will of 1.7 million Arizona voters in a bait-and-switch scheme to destroy Prop 208 by exempting their rich friends from paying taxes that Arizona voters passed.
- Ensure Arizona invests in its schools and infrastructure, instead of handing a billion dollars to millionaires in the form of massive tax cuts. Stronger schools mean a strong economy.
Do I have to sign all three petitions? YES, because Gov. Ducey and 47 Republican legislators used a combination of three bills and workarounds to cut education funding, including the “flat tax” scheme and SB 1783. To fix what they destroyed, we need to recall all three parts.
Voting Rights Referendums
If a sufficient number of signatures is obtained on these three petitions, the effect will be to:
- Keep the “Permanent” in the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL)
- Allow state and local election officials to continue to supplement the insufficient funds they receive by obtaining outside grants for voter registration and election administration.
- Block proposed ten “ballot fraud countermeasures,” including bar and QR codes, which could violate the ballot secrecy guarantee of the AZ Constitution.
Again, we hope to see you at the outdoor UUCP event at Grenada Park on Saturday, September 11, from 9:00-11:00 am. If you cannot attend that event, you can email us at civicengagement@phoenixuu.org if you need someone to bring the petitions to you.