A PROPOSITION.

No. 4.

Introduced by Mr. A. C. Baker of Maricopa County.

A Proposition Relative to Initiative and Referendum.

IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED:

Section 1. The legislative power of the State, shall be vested in the General Assembly, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives, both to be elected by the people, but the people expressly reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and amendments to the Constitution, and to enact or reject the same at the polls, independent of the General Assembly, and also reserve power, at their own option, to approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part of any act of the General Assembly.

The first power hereby reserved by the people is the Initiative, and at least eight per cent of the legal voters shall be required to propose any measure by petition and every such petition shall include the full text of the measure so proposed. Initiative petitions for State legislation and amendments to the Constitution shall be addressed to and filed with the Secretary of State at least four months before the election at which they are to be voted upon.

The second power hereby reserved is the Referendum, and it may be ordered, except as to the laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, and appropriations for the support and maintenance of the Departments of State and State institutions, against any act, item, section, or part of any act of the General Assembly, either by petition, signed by five percent of the legal voters, or by the General Assembly. Referendum petitions shall be addressed to and filed with the Secretary of State, not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the General Assembly that passed the bill on which the Referendum is demanded. The filing of a referendum petition against any item, section, or part of any act shall not delay the remainder of the act from becoming operative; but, to allow opportunity for referendum petitions, no legislation passed by the General Assembly shall be operative for ninety days after the close of the session of the Assembly, excepting such as require earlier operation to preserve the public peace, health, or safety, or may be appropriations for the support and maintenance of the Departments of State and State institutions and are designated in their text as requiring such earlier operation, for such reason, and no bill containing an emergency clause shall be considered as passed unless it shall have received the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the entire membership of the General Assembly, and if any such law shall be vetoed by the Governor, it shall not become a law unless it shall receive the affirmative vote of three-fourths of the entire membership of the General Assembly. The veto power of the governor shall not extend to measures initiated by or referred to the people. All elections on measures referred to the people of the State shall be held at the biennial, regular, general election, and all such measures shall become the law or a part of the Constitution when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon, and not otherwise, and shall take effect from and after the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by proclamation of the Governor, but not later than thirty days after the vote has been canvassed. This section shall not be construed to deprive the General Assembly of the right to enact any measure. The whole number of votes cast for Governor at the regular, general election last preceding the filing of any petition for the Initiative or Referendum shall be the basis on which the number of legal voters necessary to sign such petition shall be counted.

The Secretary of State shall submit all measures initiated by or referred to the people for adoption or rejection at the polls in compliance herewith.

The petition shall consist of sheets having such general form printed or written at the top thereof as shall be designated or prescribed by the Secretary of State. Such petition shall be signed by qualified electors in their own proper person only, to which shall be attached the residence address of such persons and the date of signing the same. To each of such petitions, which may consist of one or more sheets, shall be attached an affidavit of some qualified elector that each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that, to the best of the knowledge and belief of the affiant, each of the persons signing said petition was, at the time of the signing, a qualified elector. Such petition, so verified, shall be prima facia evidence that the signatures thereon are genuine and true, and that the persons signing the same are qualified electors. The text of all measures to be submitted shall be published as constitutional amendments are published and in submitting the same and in all matters pertaining to the form of all petitions, the Secretary of State and all other officers shall be guided by the general law until legislation shall be especially provided therefor.

The enacting clause of every law shall be as follows: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arizona." or, when the Initiative is used: "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Arizona."

The Initiative and Referendum powers reserved to the people by this section are hereby further reserved to the legal voters of every city, town, and municipality as to all local, special, and municipal legislation of every character in or for their respective municipalities. The manner of exercising said powers shall be prescribed by general laws, except that cities, towns, and municipalities may provide for the manner of exercising the Initiative and Referendum power as to their municipal legislation. Not more than ten per cent of the legal voters may be required to order the Referendum, nor more than fifteen per cent. to propose any measure by the Initiative in any city, town, or municipality.

This section of the Constitution shall be, in all respects, self-executing.

• Proposition Number 4 - Initiative and Referendum (introduced on 1910-10-21 14:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e934623) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]
  • None (introduced on 1910-10-29 14:00:00 - REPORT_PROPOSAL - e935933) [view current proposal at this moment]