Here is the Arizona Forward Party argument against Proposition 134 that appears in the Publicity Pamphlet for the 2024 General Election (p72):

The Arizona Forward Party believes that access to the ballot should forever and always be made easier for voters, not more difficult.

Proposition 134 makes it harder for citizen driven referendums, statewide initiatives, and constitutional changes to get on the ballot. The amendment would require EVERY legislative district to meet a petition signature threshold that is currently measured at the state level.

While the proponents claim this will give more representation to all, it will only make it more difficult to obtain the required signatures. If only ONE district fails to collect enough signatures, the referendum, initiative, or amendment will fail to appear on the ballot no matter how popular or relative it is to the rest of the state.

This proposed measure is not intended to balance the viewpoints of rural vs. urban, or Red vs. Blue voters—it is only intended to hinder the citizens’ initiative process and to shift power away from voters and leave it solely in the hands of the legislature. All Arizonans in all 30 districts already have a voice — If there is a measure that a voter doesn’t like, they can make their voice heard by voting no on election day.

Vote NO on Proposition 134, and preserve the current citizens’ initiative process. Don’t allow one single district to veto the wishes of a majority of Arizonans.

Why should we care?

Since Arizona became a state in 1912, the citizens' initiatives have been an effective way to change laws or our constitution, particularly for issues that the legislature will not or cannot address.  Clean elections campaigns, term limits, limitations on dark money, and many other measures have been enacted through the initiative process.  Without it, citizens have no direct method to counteract measures taken by the legislature.

What does this measure change?

Currently, an initiative or referendum can only appear on the general election ballot if a petition signature threshold is met.  The formula set by law is based on how many people voted for Governor in the last gubernatorial election, for example in 2022.  For new statutory measures and referendums, the threshold is 10% of the votes cast; for constitutional amendments, the threshold is 15%.  These signatures, however, can be collected anywhere in the state without regard to legislative district. Logically, most petition drives center on areas with the highest population densities to minimize the effort to collect the required signatures.

Proposition 134 would change the constitution to require that EACH of our 30 legislative districts meet their own proportional signature threshold, roughly 3.3% of the current signature total.  If ANY of the 30 districts fails to meet this threshold, then the measure fails to appear on the ballot.

Resources:

Ballotpedia.org summary of Prop 134