If there’s any good news in the 2026 state ballot propositions, it’s that only eight made it onto the ballot. Another 53 legislative-led propositions were shot down internally or by the courts because they overreached or were poorly written. At least one citizen-led proposition was bumped off by a court after a challenge. The bad news? The eight propositions on the ballot are all from the Legislature and are partisan Republican measures that no one asked for. They feature ways of skirting anticipated vetoes by Governor Katie Hobbs on what she considers bad bills. They also further advance what many see as culture-war issues promoted by Republicans to stir up their base voters in what’s expected to be a tough election year.
Here we go
Proposition 144, which had its ballot description rewritten by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, survived legal challenges to its altered language. It strengthens state voting-rights protections by allowing voters who get their ballots by mail to have them tallied immediately at voting sites if they provide identification. This would speed up the tallying process for those dropping off ballots on Election Day. The proposition would make what’s already voluntary in each county into a mandatory practice. The measure would also make it more difficult to change existing election laws.
Republicans included language in Prop. 144 to require voters to present ID prior to casting a ballot in any election, including mail-in voting, but the measure doesn’t specify how that would be done. It also has language to “reaffirm” that only US citizens may vote and to prohibit “foreign nationals” from voting. In effect, it repeats what’s already established in state election law. Fontes didn’t include that language in his fifty-word description.
A popular citizen-led proposition, the Protect Education Act, was knocked off the ballot by challenges to petition signatures. It would have regulated the state’s bloated and fraud-filled billion-dollar voucher program. The only consolation for activists who secured hundreds of thousands of signatures in just 14 weeks is that the Legislature’s counter-proposition, which sought to permanently protect the voucher (Empowerment Scholarship Account) program, was thrown out by the courts too.
A local polling group, Stealth Analytics, run by a Republican operative, found that most voters polled favor two of the legislative measures: Propositions 316 and 318. That probably bodes ill for the rest of them.
Proposition 316 would ban municipalities from imposing transaction-privilege (sales, TPT) taxes on grocery items that would exceed 2% of the local tax base. Municipalities that have already passed TPTs may not increase that rate by more than 2%. The poll found that 60% of those surveyed support Proposition 316 and 31% were undecided. The proposition polled well with every demographic group, regardless of party, location, gender, etc.
Proposition 318 would require schools to designate sports teams by gender and prohibit student athletes from playing on teams that don’t align with their sex at birth. Of those surveyed, 52% favor it and 32% were undecided.
In a story in The Arizona Capitol Times the writer notes that although the support comes primarily from Republicans, 51% of Independents also favor it. The publication notes that it’s typical for those numbers to shift once outside groups spend money attacking or supporting propositions.
Other measures
Those surveyed found Proposition 320 the least appealing, requiring large school districts to spend 60% of their operating budgets on “direct instructional expenses.” Voters tend to generally favor local control over state edicts, and 46% were undecided on the measure.
Teresa Leyba Ruiz, the Democratic candidate for superintendent of public instruction, describes Proposition 320 as “an unfunded mandate” that would burden school districts with restrictions that could negatively affect learning and preclude coverage of necessary expenses in already underfunded public schools.
For example, if the air-conditioning broke down in a school in the Valley where temperatures are routinely in the 100-degree range in the spring and fall, the school may not be able to use general state funding to replace it.
Voters also weren’t very supportive of Proposition 144, the “Fast Accurate Secure Transparent Election Results Act.” While 39% of voters polled favor it, 31% oppose it and 29% were undecided. The polling took place before the final ruling on the language in the ballot-measure description.
Proposition 141 would ban vehicle-miles-traveled taxes on all levels of government. This would prevent possible replacements to the fuel tax that currently pays for road construction and maintenance, but which already lacks funding because it hasn’t been increased in decades. The rise of electric vehicles and fuel-efficient hybrids has also diminished revenues.
Proposition 142 would amend the state Constitution to prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and ban spending public money on offices that promote race-based preferential treatment. It also bans spending on education about slavery and the Holocaust.
Proposition 317 would amend state law to call drug cartels “terrorist organizations” and direct the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to pursue them. It also includes a clause stating that nothing in it would support an “alien’s asylum claim.”
Proposition 319 would prohibit local governments from using photo-enforcement systems to enforce traffic laws if they’re not already in place by December 31, 2026. Those already using the systems would have to win voter approval to continue using them. If voters approve them, the authorization would last for ten years, after which they must vote again for approval.
To read the legislative summary of each proposition, visit azleg.gov/ballot-measures-2026-analyses and click on the highlighted word “analysis” for each measure. Of the eleven measures listed, only the eight mentioned here made it onto the ballot.
