A House panel approved legislation Wednesday that could give foes of voter-proposed initiatives a new legal tool to keep them from getting to the ballot.
Senate Bill 1094 would spell out that petition circulators would be required to either:
Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, who wrote the measure, said it's designed to ensure that people are informed about what they are being asked to sign. This year alone GOP lawmakers have proposed two other measures, one to require initiative circulators to get signatures in each of the state's 30 legislative districts; and another to say an initiative cannot become law unless 60% of voters approving it.
"This should be the golden age of citizen activism,'' he said."But here we are, wallowing in pettiness and spite.''He said he was approached last week by someone asking him to sign a proposal that would outlaw"dark money'' in campaigns and require that the true source of all funds be disclosed. Hoffman said when he asked the circulator who was behind the petition drive, the person responded"the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
Sen. Kelli Butler, D-Paradise Valley, said the legislation Mesnard proposes essentially presumes that people who are approached to sign petitions, or those who seek out petition circulators, are unaware of the issue. She said it forces those who are aware to go through this process of having someone take the time to read the summary to them or have to read it themselves.
Butler worried the measure could open the door to legal challenges. She envisioned a situation where"people can tell on someone,'' say they saw someone sign a petition who did not take the time to read it, and have that used by initiative foes to try to have those signatures disqualified.
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