Most propositions referred by the Arizona Legislature failed this election

Eleven statewide measures were referred to the ballot by Arizona’s legislative Republicans, but only a few were successful.

Four of the ballot measures were successful and seven failed. Republican House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) said it’s because the party decided to use its resources on winning important legislative races rather than garnering support for the propositions.

Toma said that for more complex ballot proposals, voters are inclined to vote “no” unless they fully understand the question.

“Often when the voters don’t understand a proposition, the easiest thing to do is to vote no, that’s the first piece, and it requires a lot of resources to convince voters to vote yes on many of these that are not self-explanatory,” Toma said.

Measures that failed include a proposition that would have ended judicial retention elections, one that would have altered the governor’s powers during a state of emergency, and another altering how much restaurants must pay tipped workers.

The four successful legislative referrals were Prop 314 on border security, Prop 312 on penalties for child sex trafficking, Prop 312 on property tax, and Prop 311 for first-responder family death benefits.

Arizona propositions results: 2024 election →