Citizens in Charge

Not a single member in either house of the Arizona legislature voted against sending a constitutional amendment to the November 2010 ballot that would reduce the amount of time citizens have to collect signatures on a petition. It will now be up to Arizona voters to decide if they want to give up 60 of the 620 days they have to collect signatures on a petition.

House Concurrent Resolution 2018 moves the deadline for submitting initiative petition signatures from four months before an election to six. Currently initiatives may begin circulation the day after a general election, giving proponents as many as 620 days. The new law would trim that to 560 days, forcing citizens to turn in petitions in April instead of June, and taking away spring and early summer months that can be critical in reaching Arizona’s sky-high signature requirement.

You can read the text of the bill here.