Affirmative-action initiative fails to make ballot

by Matthew Benson and Glen Creno - Aug. 22, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

An initiative that would amend the Arizona Constitution to ban affirmative-action programs in the state was disqualified from the ballot Thursday by Secretary of State Jan Brewer.
Proposition 104, known as the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, becomes the third measure this year to be booted from the ballot because of failure to submit enough valid signatures to the state. Prop. 104 proponents vowed to appeal, probably early next week.
In other action Thursday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Aceto dealt a setback to supporters of a proposed transportation initiative as he refused to restore the measure to the ballot. Supporters of the TIME initiative, dealing with signature problems similar to the civil-rights measure, now plan to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative initially submitted 334,735 signatures to the state. But following petition reviews by the Secretary of State's Office and the state's 15 county recorders, that number was whittled down to 194,961 valid signatures. That's short of the 230,047 required for a Constitutional amendment.

The proposal is spearheaded by California businessman Ward Connerly and modeled after propositions in California and other states. In Arizona, the measure would ban preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, education and contracts.

The initiative was drawn into the national spotlight in July when Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, said he was supportive. A decade earlier, McCain in speaking to Hispanic leaders condemned as "divisive" a ballot measure proposed by an Arizona lawmaker to ban affirmative action, though he never cited the referendum by name.
Now, Arizona Civil Rights Initiative Chairman Max McPhail is hopeful that a careful re-examination of the signatures initially deemed invalid may result in enough being overturned to qualify the measure for the ballot. [To read the entire story, go to: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/22/20080822affirmative0822.html ]