Sec. of State Brewer Certifies Two Additional Initiatives for Ballot

Prop. 100 & Prop. 201 Which Project Between 95% & 105% of Statutory Minimum Signature Requirement are Qualified By Secretary Upon Legal Advice

PHOENIX --Secretary of State Jan Brewer today officially certified Proposition 100, the Protect Our Homes initiative and Proposition 201, the Homeowners Bill of Rights initiative, as having qualified to be placed on the ballot.

Both measure's signature verification process had resulted in a projection of less than 105% but greater than 95% which state statute then requires a full examination and verification of each signature by the county recorders. Earlier this week, several county recorders had officially notified Secretary of State Brewer that they would be unable to complete such a verification process prior to their respective ballot printing deadlines.

Proposition 100 had projected at 98.36% of the valid signatures required to qualify for the November ballot, while Proposition 201 projected at 104.98 percent of valid signatures required.

In certifying these two ballot measures for the ballot, Secretary of State Brewer had recently sought clarification from her legal counsel as to whether she should qualify a citizen initiative that projects below 100 percent of the signature requirements laid out in state statute.

“While I have always been of the belief that a citizen initiative that comes in below the signature requirements provided in law be disqualified, I will abide by my legal counsel and prior court precedent that established I am to certify such a measure for the ballot,” stated Secretary of State Jan Brewer. Sec. Brewer added, “I guess 98 percent really means 100 percent according to our legal system.”

Brewer referred to the 1983 Arizona Supreme Court opinion in Save Our Public Lands Coalition v. Stover in notifying the county election officials that Proposition 100 should be placed on the ballots, citing: “all doubts as to the validity of the signatures are hereby resolved in favor of [the measure]…and this measure is hereby certified for placement on the November 4, 2008, general election ballot.”

To date, six ballot measures have been qualified to be on the November ballot. One measure has been disqualified. Four other citizen initiatives are still being verified by the county recorders.

Under the Arizona Revised Statutes in § 19-121, the Secretary of State removes ineligible signatures and invalid petition sheets, and then the county recorders further verify voter registration and petition signatures.

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