ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
clean elections; voter
pamphlet
An emergency measure
requiring the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, rather than the county board
of supervisors, to mail a copy of the voter education pamphlet to every
household of a registered voter.
Contains a Proposition 105 clause.
The Citizens Clean Elections
Act, a campaign finance reform measure, was established by the passage of
Proposition 200 in the 1998 general election.
The Act created a campaign financing system that provides funding to
qualified candidates who agree to abide by Citizens Clean Elections Commission
(Commission) guidelines.
The Citizens Clean Elections
Act established a procedure to educate voters on the candidates running for
each office. The Commission mailed a
200-word statement for each candidate to every household of a registered voter
for the 2000 general election. However, the Commission has since amended the rule
to limit the candidate’s statement to 100 words for the 2002 general
election. The candidate statement also
indicates if the candidate is a participating candidate or not.
Currently, statute requires
the county board of supervisors to include a message from each candidate in the
mailings for early and sample ballots for both the primary and general
elections. The board is then required
to submit a claim of the extra cost of including the messages in the mailings
to the Commission for reimbursement from the citizens clean elections
fund. County representatives have
indicated that it would be extremely expensive to mail the candidate statements
with the early and sample ballots for the primary and general elections because
it would require larger envelopes, increased postage and additional staff for
all 15 Arizona counties.
The Commission anticipates a
cost of $700,000 for mailing the voter education pamphlet and other associated
costs. The cost of the mailing is paid
from the clean elections fund.
Therefore, there is no fiscal impact to the state general fund
associated with this legislation.
1. Requires the Commission to mail a copy of the voter education pamphlet containing a statement from each candidate to every household with a registered voter.
2. Allows the voter education pamphlet to be mailed over a period of days provided that it is delivered to the household before the earliest date for receipt of an early ballot by any registered voter requesting an early ballot for the primary election.
3. Eliminates the county board of supervisors’ duty to mail voter education pamphlets with early and sample ballots.
4. Removes the requirement that the county board of supervisors apply to the Commission for reimbursement of cost for including the candidate message in early and sample ballot mailings.
5. Makes technical changes.
6. Contains a Proposition 105 clause.
7. Becomes effective on signature of the Governor.
Prepared by Senate Staff
January 31, 2002