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Arizona Proposition 106, English as Official State Language Initiative (1988)
| Arizona Proposition 106 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic English language policy |
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| Status |
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| Type Initiated constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Arizona Proposition 106 was on the ballot as an initiated constitutional amendment in Arizona on November 8, 1988. Voters approved the ballot measure.
A "yes" vote supported this ballot initiative to:
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A "no" vote opposed this ballot initiative to designate English as the official language of Arizona; require governmental actions, functions, and documents to be conducted in English, with exceptions; and allow for state residents to enforce the language requirement in court. |
Aftermath
Ruiz v. Hull (1998)
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 106 violated the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on April 28, 1998, rendering the citizen-initiated constitutional amendment inoperative. The ruling was unanimous.[1]
Justice James Moeller wrote the court's opinion, which said, "The Amendment is not content-neutral; rather, it constitutes a sweeping injunction against speech in any language other than English. The Amendment unconstitutionally infringes upon multiple First Amendment interests—those of the public, of public employees, and of elected officials. The Amendment adversely affects non-English speaking persons and impinges on their ability to seek and obtain information and services from government. Because the Amendment chills First Amendment rights that government is not otherwise entitled to proscribe, it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Amendment's constitutional infirmity cannot be salvaged by invoking the doctrine of severability."[1]
Proposition 103 (2006)
In 2006, the Arizona State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment, Proposition 103, to the ballot. Proposition 103 also designated English as the official language of Arizona. However, while Proposition 106 required governmental actions, functions, and documents to be conducted in English, Proposition 103 required government representatives to protect and promote English in official functions while allowing unofficial multilingual communication. Proposition 106 was approved with 74.0% of the vote.
Election results
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Arizona Proposition 106 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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584,459 | 50.50% | ||
| No | 572,800 | 49.50% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Proposition 106 was as follows:
| “ | PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA RELATING TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE; PROVIDING THAT ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA, AND AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA BY ADDING ARTICLE XXVIII. | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
| “ | AMENDING ARIZONA CONSTITUTION MAKING ENGLISH THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THIS STATE AND ALL POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS; REQUIRING ALL GOVERNMENTAL ACTIONS, FUNCTIONS AND DOCUMENTS TO BE IN ENGLISH; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW, LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION, PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY AND PROTECTECTING CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS AND VICTIMS OF CRIMES. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article XXVIII, Arizona Constitution
The ballot measure added Article XXVIII to the Arizona Constitution. The following underlined text was added:[2]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
ARTICLE XXVIII. ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.
1. English as the Official Language; Applicability.
Section 1. (1) The English language is the official language of the State of Arizona.
(2) As the official language of this State, the English language is the language of the ballot, the public schools and all government functions and actions.
(3)(a) This Article applies to:
(i) the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government
(ii) all political subdivisions, departments, agencies, organizations, and instrumentalities of this State, including local governments and municipalities,
(iii) all statutes, ordinances, rules, orders, programs and policies.
(iv) all government officials and employees during the performance of government business.
(b) As used in this Article, the phrase “This State and all political subdivisions of this State” shall include every entity, person, action or item described in this Section, as appropriate to the circumstances.
2. Requiring This State to Preserve, Protect and Enhance English.
Section 2. This State and all political subdivisions of this State shall take all reasonable steps to preserve, protect and enhance the role of the English language as the official language of the State of Arizona.
3. Prohibiting This State from Using or Requiring the Use of Languages Other Than English; Exceptions.
Section 3. (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2);
(a) This State and all political subdivisions of this State shall act in English and in no other language.
(b) No entity to which this Article applies shall make or enforce a law, order, decree or policy which requires the use of a language other than English.
(c) No governmental document shall be valid, effective or enforceable unless it is in the English language.
(2) This State and all political subdivisions of this State may act in a language other than English under any of the following circumstances:
(a) to assist students who are not proficient in the English language, to the extent necessary to comply with federal law, by giving educational instruction in a language other than English to provide as rapid as possible a transition to English.
(b) to comply with other federal laws.
(c) to teach a student a foreign language as a part of a required or voluntary educational curriculum.
(d) to protect public health or safety,
(e) to protect the rights of criminal defendants or victims of crime.
4. Enforcement; Standing.
Section 4. A person who resides in or does business in this State shall have standing to bring suit to enforce this Article in a court of record of the State. The Legislature may enact reasonable limitations on the time and manner of bringing suit under this subsection.[3]
Background
The following is a list of state ballot measures to designate English as an official state language:
Path to the ballot
In Arizona, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 15 percent of the votes cast at the preceding gubernatorial election.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arizona Supreme Court, "Ruiz v. Hull," April 28, 1998
- ↑ State of Arizona Research Library, "1988 State of Arizona initiative and referendum publicity pamphlet, general election," accessed February 28, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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