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Ballot Tampering
(Page 2 of 2)
In a press release, Arizona Treasurer Carol Springer condemned the removal of the Taxpayer Protection Act from the ballot, calling it "a blatantly political decision [that] unnecessarily narrowed the single-subject requirement....This new definition was not equally applied to all propositions, clearly shown by the court allowing [the Growing Smarter Plus Initiative] to remain on the ballot."
The Taxpayer Protection Act's opponents cheered the decision. A spokesperson for Gov. Hull expressed relief that the court had barred the initiative from the ballot, saying its passage would have been "harmful" to Arizona. Hull has also called for revisions in the state's ballot initiative laws that would make it more difficult for citizens (though not the legislature) to place questions on the ballot.
A legacy of the Progressive Era in American politics, the initiative process was designed as a means by which voters could bypass the political establishment and directly enact reforms. The Taxpayer Protection Act was very much in that spirit. In attempting to repeal personal and corporate income taxes, the initiative sought to constrain one of government's most basic tools of power. While it's unclear whether the proposition actually would have won on election day, this much seems certain: Arizona voters have already lost something important by being denied the opportunity to cast a ballot on the matter.
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