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Prior to the circulation of an initiative petition, the petitioners shall file with the city clerk, as a public record, a blank final printed version of the initiative petition to be circulated, showing the official serial number. The city clerk shall time and date stamp the filed version. The initiative petition must include the full and correct copy of the title and text of the proposed measure to be initiated. The petition filed with the city clerk is the only valid version for circulation.
(Ord. No. 11525, § 2, 2-21-18)
The city clerk shall have the right, at any time, to review, challenge or reject an initiative petition on the basis of any legal or procedural insufficiency, including but not limited to the petition's failure to address legislation that is subject to the initiative process. The city clerk's administration of the initiative process does not represent an acceptance or review of the petition, and the absence of objection at any particular time does not bar subsequent rejection of the initiative petition by the city.
(Ord. No. 11525, § 2, 2-21-18)
(a) All circulators who are not residents of this state must register as circulators with the secretary of state before circulating petitions pursuant to A.R.S. § 19-118. The political action committee that is circulating the petition shall collect and submit the registrations to the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall establish in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-452 a procedure for registering circulators and shall publish on a website maintained by the secretary of state all information regarding circulators that is required pursuant to this section. The city clerk shall disqualify all signatures collected by a circulator who fails to register pursuant to this subsection.
(b) The registration required by subsection (a) of this section shall include the following provisions:
(1) The circulator consents to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state in resolving any disputes concerning the circulation of petitions by that circulator.
(2) The circulator shall designate an address in this state at which the circulator will accept service of process related to disputes concerning circulation of that circulator's petitions. Service of process is effected under this section by delivering a copy of the subpoena to that person individually or by leaving a copy of the subpoena at the address designated by the circulator with a person of suitable age.
(c) If a registered circulator is properly served with a subpoena to provide evidence in an action regarding circulation of petitions and fails to appear or produce documents as provided for in the subpoena, all signatures collected by that circulator are deemed invalid. The party serving the subpoena may request an order from the court directing the city clerk to remove any signatures collected by the circulator.
(d) Any person may challenge the lawful registration of circulators in the superior court of the county in which the circulator is registered. A challenge may not be commenced more than ten (10) business days after the date on which the petitions for which the circulator is required to be registered are filed with the city clerk. The person challenging signatures may amend that complaint after the city clerk has removed signatures and signature sheets. An action pursuant to this section shall be advanced on the calendar and decided by the court as soon as possible. Either party may appeal to the supreme court within five (5) calendar days after entry of judgment. The prevailing party in an action to challenge the registration of a circulator under this section is entitled to reasonable attorney fees.
(e) The removal or disqualification of any one or more circulators does not invalidate the random sample of signatures, and the city clerk shall not be required to conduct any additional random sampling of signatures.
(Ord. No. 11525, § 2, 2-21-18)
(a) Prior to circulating the initiative or referendum petition, the circulator shall state whether they are a paid circulator or a volunteer by checking the appropriate line on the signature sheet. Signatures obtained on referendum petitions in violation of this section are void and shall not be counted in determining the legal sufficiency of the petition. For the purposes of this chapter, "paid circulator:"
(1) Means a natural person who receives monetary or other compensation that is based on the number of signatures obtained on a petition or on the number of petitions circulated that contain signatures.
(2) Does not include a paid employee of any political action committee organized pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Title 16, Chapter 6, unless that employee's primary responsibility is circulating petitions to obtain signatures.
(b) At all times during circulation, each signature sheet shall be attached to a complete copy of the title and text of the proposed measure.
(c) For purposes of this article, the term "at all times during circulation" means the entire period from the time the circulator receives any blank initiative petition for circulation until the time the petition is filed with the city clerk.
(d) With the exceptions listed in subsection (e) of this section, and section 12-115(a) of this code, any person who is qualified to register to vote in the State of Arizona may circulate an initiative or referendum petition.
(e) No county recorder or justice of the peace and no person other than a person qualified to register to vote in the State of Arizona shall circulate an initiative petition and all signatures verified by any such person shall be void and shall not be counted in determining the legal sufficiency of the petition.
(f) Each circulator of any petition page shall personally receive sufficient information from each signer of the signature sheet, at the time the signature is obtained, to ensure that the circulator can, as to all signers of that page, depose and state in the affidavit required by the Tucson Charter that each signature is genuine, and that each signer is a resident and qualified elector of the City of Tucson.
(g) Every qualified elector signing a petition shall do so in the presence of the person who is circulating the petition and who is to execute the affidavit of circulator.
(1) At the time of signing, the qualified elector shall sign their first and last names in the spaces provided and the elector so signing shall print their first and last names and write, in the appropriate spaces following the signature, the signer's residence address, giving street and number, and if no street address, a description of the residence location.
(2) In the case of strict compliance of the referendum, the qualified elector shall also print their ward number (see Tucson Code 12-151 (a)).
(3) The elector so signing shall write, in the appropriate spaces following the elector's address, the date on which the elector signed the petition.
(h) The circulator of any petition page shall retain direct custody and control of the page at all times during circulation, except when a signer is signing; personally give the page to, and take it from, each signer; and personally observe each signer of the petition page actually sign the petition.
(i) Abandoned or stray petition sheets that are not or at any time have not been under the direct custody and control of the circulator shall be rejected in their entirety.
(j) Each circulator of an initiative petition shall cross out and initial any blank signature lines on the signature sheet including those in the middle of the sheet, prior to, or at the time, the circulator's signature on the affidavit for that signature sheet is notarized.
(k) In the event that a circulator fails to cross out and initial any blank signature lines before notarization then the entire signature sheet shall be rejected and all signatures on that page will be void.
(l) Signatures obtained before the filing of a completed statement of organization with the city clerk are void and shall not be counted in determining the legal sufficiency of any initiative petition(s).
(m) The provisions of this section shall also apply to the circulation of any referendum or recall petition.
(Ord. No. 11525, § 2, 2-21-18)
(a) For the purposes of this chapter, a person commits petition signature fraud if the person does either of the following with the intent to defraud:
(1) Intentionally collects for filing petition signature sheets with the knowledge that the person whose name appears on the signature sheet did not actually sign the petition.
(2) Uses any fraudulent means, method, trick, device or artifice to obtain signatures on a petition.
(b) A person paid by a political committee to employ or subcontract with persons who fraudulently obtain petition signatures or who obtain petition signatures through other unlawful means is not guilty of a violation of subsection (a) if the person does both of the following:
(1) Reports the suspected unlawful or fraudulent signature collection to the city clerk.
(2) Refuses to file the suspected unlawful or fraudulent signatures.
(c) A person who violates subsection (a) is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor, except that a person who engages or participates in a pattern of petition signature fraud is guilty of a class 4 felony and shall be prohibited from participating for five (5) years in any election, initiative, referendum or recall campaign. For the purposes of this subsection, "pattern of petition signature fraud" means that the person employs or subcontracts with persons to obtain signatures and at least five (5) of the employees or subcontractor's employees have been convicted of a violation of this section for one or more elections or recall campaigns in an election cycle.
(Ord. No. 11525, § 2, 2-21-18)
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