This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!
Arizona House Bill 2407 (2015)
| Arizona House Bill 2407 | |
 | |
| Legislature: | Arizona State Legislature |
| Text: | HB 2407 |
| Sponsor(s): | Rep. David Stevens (R-14) |
| Legislative history | |
| Introduced: | January 29, 2015 |
| State house: | March 4, 2015 |
| State senate: | March 31, 2015 |
| Governor: | Gov. Doug Ducey (R) |
| Signed: | April 13, 2015 |
| Legal environment | |
| State law: | Initiative and referendum |
| Code: | Elections code |
Arizona House Bill 2407 was introduced by Rep. David Stevens (R-14) on January 29, 2015. It was approved in the Arizona House of Representatives on March 4, 2015, along party lines, with 35 of the 36 Republicans voting "yes" -- one Republican did not vote -- and all 24 Democrats voting "no." In the Arizona State Senate, the bill was approved on March 31, 2015, in a vote of 21 against eight. Those who voted "yes" consisted of 16 Republicans and five Democrats. The dissenters were all Democrats.[1]
Provisions
This bill required stricter compliance with technical signature petition rules and is more preventative of signature petitions that are not in strict compliance. Specifically, one of its provisions was designed to require that any individual signatures dated after the circulator affidavit was signed must be thrown out. Arizona House Bill 2107 (2014) was relevant to and spurred this change.[1]
HB 2407 also specified that signatures collected by an out-of-state or paid circulator who was not registered with the Arizona Secretary of State at the time the signatures were signed must be considered invalid. HB 2407 made other ballot law changes regarding litigation, court rulings and other issues. Details can be found in the full text of the bill.[1][2]
Supporters and sponsors
This bill was sponsored by Rep. David Stevens (R-14). All of the Republican legislators who voted on this measure voted "yes."
Opposition
In the house, all the Democrats voted against this bill, while all but five voted "no" in the senate.[1]
Background
The following excerpt concerning the background of HB 2407 was taken from the Ballot Law Update published on February 25, 2015:
| “ |
In 2013, the Arizona legislature passed Senate Bill 2305, which contained comprehensive elections law reform, including provisions that required strict compliance with minutia of the initiative and referendum petition procedures. The bill also introduced new steps and responsibilities to be required of political committees sponsoring an initiative. Other provisions concerned early voting and restrictions on petition circulators. The bill was immediately faced with heated opposition. After a group called Protect Your Right to Vote, Arizona, collected enough signatures to qualify a veto referendum question against the bill for the ballot, lawmakers decided to rescind the bill in 2014 through House Bill 2196. Despite this failed attempt, in early 2015, Rep. David Stevens (R-14) introduced HB 2407, which contained some provisions that were similar to those of SB 2305.[3][4] |
” |
Related bills
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Open States, "Arizona House Bill 2407 (2015)," accessed June 18, 2015
- ↑ Arizona Legislature website, "House Bill 2407," accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Tucson.com, "House committee advances bills affecting Arizona voters," February 16, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
