MEDICINAL POT ONE OF 9 ISSUES TO MAKE ARIZ. BALLOT

In November, voters will decide a variety of issues - from allowing
renaming the state's No. 2 office to prohibiting affirmative-action programs.

As of Thursday's filing deadline, nine measures qualified for the
Nov. 2 general-election ballot. But only one initiative - an effort
to legalize medical marijuana - qualified for through a citizen petition.

The other eight measures were referred to the ballot by the Legislature.

Organizers and observers attribute the low number of citizen-driven
initiatives to the lagging economy, which they say made it difficult
for groups to hire companies to gather signatures and get the word
out about their petitions.

"Most of the groups that would be doing initiatives have to be more
selective in a tight economy," said Sandy Bahr, a lobbyist with the
Sierra Club. "It takes a lot of money. You have to really run two
campaigns, one campaign to get it on the ballot and then you have to
campaign to win."

She said some groups that would traditionally run campaigns, such as
the National Rifle Association, had the legislature refer measures to
the voters instead or bypass the public altogether when possible,
removing the costly petition-gathering phase.

Shawn Dow, who organized an unsuccessful initiative effort to ban
photo-enforcement devices, said his group fell short because they
couldn't pay signature gatherers.

"It's impossible for an all-volunteer organization to get something
on the ballot," he said.

For this election, initiatives needed to submit 153,365 signatures to qualify.

Past elections have seen much higher numbers citizen initiatives. In
2006, Arizona was the busiest state in the country with 19 measures,
including 10 initiatives. In 2008, there were 10 ballot measures and
nine voter initiatives.

Political observers said the nine ballot measures, while an
interesting and diverse group, are not the type of propositions to
generate large campaigns and will likely be overshadowed by statewide races.

"These are not big business issues," said Gibson McKay, a lobbyist
and political consultant who has worked with several ballot
proposition campaigns. "When you have the liquor interest, or gaming
initiatives, those will turn people out to the polls because people
are paying millions and millions of dollars to make sure of that."

Three prominent signature drives - to repeal the state's
controversial new immigration law, to restructure the property tax
system and to eliminate photo-enforcement traffic devices - failed to
collect enough signatures.

One measure placed by the state Legislature, which would have
guaranteed a secret ballot in state-run and union elections, was
taken off the ballot Wednesday. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge
Robert Oberbillig ruled that the measure violated a constitutional
provision that requires parts of an initiative to be substantively related.

Lawyers in support of the proposition said they would appeal the
judge's ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court, which could decide
before the election whether or not to keep the measure on the ballot.

Medical Marijuana

Proposition 203, driven by the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy
Project, proposes to allow patients with a debilitating medical
condition such as cancer, HIV or multiple sclerosis to purchase,
possess and use 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks with a
doctor's recommendation.

Non-profit dispensaries regulated by the state would grow and sell
the drug to approved patients.

It still would be illegal to use marijuana in a public place or drive
under the influence of marijuana, but the initiative would forbid
employers from firing qualified medical-marijuana users who test
positive for the drug unless they can prove patients used or were
impaired while at work.

Thirteen states allow the possession of small amounts of marijuana
for medical purposes, although only California has established a
widespread network of dispensaries to distribute it.

Health Care

Proposition 106 would amend the state Constitution to prohibit any
law that requires a person, employer or health-care provider to
participate in a health-care system.

The Legislature put the measure on the ballot after a similar
initiative pushed by Arizonans for Health Care Freedom failed by a
narrow margin in 2008. While the measure is not a reaction to the
health-care law passed by the U.S. Congress in March that mandates
that each individual have health insurance, it would almost directly
contradict it.

Proponents of the measure say it will likely lead to lawsuits with
the federal government if passed.

In the backlash against Congress' health-care bill, numerous states
adopted statutory versions of the proposition or put amendments on
their November ballots.

Preferential Treatment

State lawmakers put Proposition 107, which would amend the Arizona
Constitution to prohibit affirmative action programs, on the ballot
after a similar initiative was disqualified from the 2008 ballot for
not garnering enough signatures.

If passed, the law would prevent preferential treatment on the basis
of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public
employment, public education and public contracting. In 2008, the
American Civil Liberties Union and the student government at the
University of Arizona opposed the measure.

Similar measures approved by voters in California, Michigan and
Washington have spurred numerous lawsuits.

Hunting and Fishing

Proposition 109 would amend the state Constitution to give Arizona
citizens a right to lawfully hunt, fish and harvest wildlife, give
the Legislature the exclusive authority to enact laws to regulate
these activities and forbid any law from unreasonably restricting
these activities. It also states that lawful public hunting and
fishing would be the preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife.

The National Rifle Association supports the measure, and
environmental groups such as the Sierra Club oppose it.

Stephanie Nichols-Young with the Animal Defense League of Arizona
said the measure would restrict voters from putting conservation and
preservation initiatives on future ballots.

Ten other states include hunting and fishing rights in their state
constitutions.

Lieutenant Governor

Proposition 111 would rename the position of secretary of state to
become the lieutenant governor beginning with the November 2014
general election.

The lieutenant governor would assume the same duties and
responsibilities as the secretary of state, including overseeing
elections and being second in line for the Governor's Office.

Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor would run in separate
primaries but join together on a unified ticket for the general
election. The proposition makes no mention of what to do if a
gubernatorial candidate runs as an independent.

Initiatives

Proposition 112 would change the deadlines for the voter-initiative
process from four months before an election to six months before an
election. The start date to begin gathering signatures wouldn't change.

Growing Smarter

Lawmakers looking for more money for the state budget placed
Proposition 301 on the ballot to get permission to take $123 million
from a land-conservation fund and use it for general purposes. The
money comes from the Growing Smarter initiative, which voters
approved in 1998. Since it was created by voters to buy land for
conservation, their approval is needed to redirect the money to other purposes.

First Things First

Proposition 302 is another budget-balancing measure referred to the
ballot by lawmakers anxious to find more money for the state budget.

It proposes to take the $345 million balance in the First Things
First account, which pays for early childhood health and education
programs, and send it to the general fund to be used for health and
human services for children. It also would direct the revenue from
the 80-cent-a-pack tobacco tax that funds First Things First and send
it to the general fund for those same purposes. The tax raises $60
million to $80 million a year.

Currently, the money is controlled by a citizen board; voter OK of
Prop. 302 would give lawmakers that control.

Arizona voters created First Things First in 2006, making it a
voter-protected initiative. Therefore, voter OK is needed to dismantle it.

State Trust land

Proposition 110 would allow state-land officials to sell or lease
state trust land, or place restrictions on the use of state trust
lands if the goal is to protect military installations, ranges,
airspace or other military-related uses. These sales/leases would be
allowed to happen without public notice or auction.

It also would allow state officials to exchange trust land for other
public lands if the exchange would protect military installations
from encroaching development or better manage and protect trust lands.

Failed initiatives

Representatives from the three campaigns that failed to qualify for
the ballot said they would try again for to get their measures on the
next general election. Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar, which
fell about 34,000 short of qualifying their initiative, said they had
begun pulling petition sheets to put similar initiatives on municipal
ballots for November's election.

An effort to repeal Arizona's new immigration law and place a
three-year moratorium on all immigration legislation fell about
50,000 signatures short of the 153,365 required.

Four referendums targeting Senate Bill 1070 or House Bill 2162, which
makes changes to the Senate bill, have until July 28 to gather enough
signatures.