Arizona Government

3 Branches Like the Federal Government, Arizona has it’s own Constitution Arizona’s Government is divided into 3 branches Legislative Executive Judicial

Legislative Branch Arizona is divided into 9 congressional districts We have 9 representatives in Congress It is also divided into 30 legislative districts which make up the Arizona Legislature Each district has one senator and two representatives They serve part time, 2 year terms, with a 4 term limit The Arizona Legislature is like “Arizona’s Congress” They make laws for our state only

Executive Branch This branch enforces the laws Governor Terms The Chief Executive is the . . . Governor They are in control of the state budget They can sign or veto bills Terms They serve a 4 year term, with a 2 term limit They may run again after a 4 year break

Judicial Branch This is the state’s court system There are 3 levels: Supreme, Court of Appeals, Superior The Supreme Court is the highest level It has 7 justices Justices are appointed by the governor and serve 6 year terms

Direct Democracy

Quick Review Indirect Democracy (Republic) – People choose representatives to make the laws for them Direct Democracy – the people vote on a proposed laws themselves (There is no direct democracy on the national level – the country is too big)

Direct Democracy in Arizona allows people to: Vote directly on laws and amendments to the state constitution Remove elected officials from office

Initiative Initiative allows citizens to make laws directly without the legislature or governor People gather signatures on petitions to get proposal place on election ballot These laws appear on the ballot as propositions Example on 2016 ballot: Prop 206 Raised minimum wage to $12 by 2020

Referendum A referendum is when citizens review (vote on) a new law or state constitutional amendment after the state legislature has passed it These also appear on the ballot as propositions Example: Prop 123 Increased education funding over the course of 10 years

Recall Recall allows people to vote to keep or remove an elected official It forces a special election The highest vote-getter in this election gets to complete the remainder of the term A recall first requires petition signatures equal to 25% of the total vote for that office in the last election Recall cannot be started until the official has been in office for at least 6 months

Problems with Direct Democracy It requires a lot of time, effort and money to be successful Not many people vote on initiative and referendum issues A “Yes/no” vote leaves no opportunity for compromise or change The best protection against bad laws???? Citizens who are aware!!

Registering to Vote in AZ

Voting Qualifications You must: Be a United States citizen Be a resident of the Arizona county listed on your registration form Be 18 years of age on the day of the next election Have registered to vote at least 29 days before the election Have had your voting rights restored if you have been convicted of a felony NOT be declared “incompetent” by a court