REFERENCE TITLE: multiple nonpartisan candidates; primary State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025 HB 2844 Introduced by Representative Diaz AN ACT amending sections 16-341 and 16-502, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to nominating procedures. (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
REFERENCE TITLE: multiple nonpartisan candidates; primary
State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
HB 2844
Introduced by Representative Diaz
REFERENCE TITLE: multiple nonpartisan candidates; primary
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
2025
HB 2844
Introduced by
Representative Diaz
AN ACT
amending sections 16-341 and 16-502, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to nominating procedures.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Section 16-341, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE16-341. Nomination petition; method and time of filing; form; qualifications and number of petitioners required; statement of interest A. Any qualified elector who is not a registered member of a political party that is recognized pursuant to this title may be nominated as a candidate for public office otherwise than by partisan primary election or by party committee pursuant to this section. B. This article shall not be used to place on the general election ballot the name of a political party that fails to meet the qualifications specified in section 16-802 or 16-804, or the name of any candidate representing such party or the name of a candidate who has filed a nomination petition in the immediately preceding primary election and has failed to qualify as the result of an insufficient number of valid signatures. C. A nomination petition stating the name of the office to be filled, the name and residence of the candidate, or, if the candidate does not have an actual residence address, a description of place of residence and post office address, or, if the person's actual residence address is protected pursuant to section 16-153, a post office box or private mailbox address in the candidate's district, precinct or municipality, as applicable for a district, precinct or municipal office, and other information required by this section shall be filed with the same officer with whom primary nomination papers and petitions are required to be filed as prescribed in section 16-311. Except for candidates for the office of presidential elector filed pursuant to this section, the petition shall be filed not less than one hundred twenty days nor more than one hundred fifty days before the primary election. The petition shall be signed only by voters who have not signed the nomination petitions of a candidate for the office to be voted for at that primary election. D. The nomination petition shall be in substantially the following form, except that if the candidate does not have an actual residence address, the candidate may use a description of place of residence and post office address, or, if the candidate's actual residence address is protected pursuant to section 16-153, a post office box or private mailbox address in the candidate's district, precinct or municipality, as applicable for a district, precinct or municipal office, is sufficient: The undersigned, qualified electors of __________ county, state of Arizona, do hereby nominate __________, who resides at __________ in the county of __________, as a candidate for the office of _______ at the general (or special, as the case may be) election to be held on the ________ day of _________, _____. I hereby declare that I have not signed the nomination petitions of any candidate for the office to be voted for at this primary election, and I do hereby select the following designation under which name the said candidate shall be placed on the official ballot (here insert such designation not exceeding three words in length as the signers may select). E. The nomination petition shall conform as nearly as possible to the provisions relating to nomination petitions of candidates to be voted for at partisan primary elections and shall be signed by at least the number of persons who are registered to vote determined by calculating three percent of the persons who are registered to vote of the state, county, subdivision or district for which the candidate is nominated who are not members of a political party that is qualified to be represented by an official party ballot at the next ensuing primary election and accorded representation on the general election ballot. F. The percentage of persons who are registered to vote necessary to sign the nomination petition shall be determined by the total number of registered voters from other than political parties that are qualified to be represented by an official party ballot at the next ensuing primary election and accorded representation on the general election ballot in the state, county, subdivision or district on January 2 of the year in which the general election is held. Notwithstanding the method prescribed by subsection E of this section and this subsection for calculating the minimum number of signatures necessary, any person who is registered to vote in the state, county, subdivision or district for which the candidate is nominated is eligible to sign the nomination petition without regard to the signer's party affiliation. G. A nomination petition for any candidate may be circulated by a person who is not a resident of this state but who is otherwise eligible to register to vote in this state if that person registers as a circulator with the secretary of state before circulating petitions. The nomination petition for the office of presidential elector shall include a group of names of candidates equal to the number of United States senators and representatives in Congress from this state instead of separate nomination petitions for each candidate for the office of presidential elector. A valid signature on a petition containing a group of presidential electors candidates is counted as a signature for the nomination of each of the candidates. The presidential candidate whom the candidates for presidential elector will represent shall designate in writing to the secretary of state the names of the candidates who will represent the presidential candidate before any signatures for the candidate can be accepted for filing. A nomination petition for the office of presidential elector shall be filed not less than eighty nor more than one hundred days before the general election. The petition shall be signed only by qualified electors who have not signed the nomination petitions of a candidate for the office of presidential elector to be voted for at that election. H. The secretary of state shall require in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16-452 that persons who circulate nomination petitions pursuant to this section and who are not residents of this state but who are otherwise eligible to register to vote in this state shall register as circulators with the office of the secretary of state before circulating petitions. The secretary of state shall provide for a method of receiving service of process for those petition circulators who are registered. I. Not later than the date of the first petition signature on a nomination petition, a person who may be a candidate for office pursuant to this section shall file a statement of interest with the appropriate filing officer for that office. The statement of interest shall contain the name of the person, the political party, if any, and the name of the office that may be sought. Any nomination petition signatures collected before the date the statement of interest is filed are invalid and subject to challenge. This subsection does not apply to: 1. Candidates for elected office for special taxing districts that are established pursuant to title 48. 2. Candidates for precinct committeeman. 3. Candidates for president or vice president of the United States. J. A person who files a nomination paper pursuant to this section for the office of president of the United States shall designate in writing to the secretary of state at the time of filing the name of the candidate's vice presidential running mate, the names of the presidential electors who will represent that candidate and a statement that is signed by the vice presidential running mate and the designated presidential electors and that indicates their consent to be designated. A nomination paper for each presidential elector designated shall be filed with the candidate's nomination paper. The number of presidential electors shall equal the number of United States senators and representatives in Congress from this state. K. A candidate who does not file a timely nomination petition that complies with this section is not eligible to have the candidate's name printed on the official ballot for that office. The filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office unless the candidate provides or has provided all of the following: 1. The financial disclosure statement as prescribed for candidates for that office. 2. The declaration of qualification and eligibility as prescribed in section 16-311. L. Not later than sixty days before the date of the general election, a candidate for governor who files a nomination petition pursuant to this section shall submit to the secretary of state the name of the person who will be the joint candidate for lieutenant governor with that gubernatorial candidate and whose name will appear on the general election ballot jointly with the candidate for governor. M. If more than one candidate for the same office files a nomination petition pursuant to this section and qualifies for the ballot, all of those candidates shall appear on a separate nonpartisan ballot to be voted on at the primary election if both of the following apply: 1. there is at least one partisan candidate for that same office who has filed a nomination paper and petition pursuant to sections 16-311 and 16-314. 2. The partisan candidate PRESCRIBED by paragraph 1 of this subsection qualifies to appear on the primary ELECTION ballot for a political party that is ENTITLED to continued representation on the ballot pursuant to section 16-804. n. For The candidates who appear on the separate nonpartisan primary election ballot pursuant to subsection M of this section, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes for an office shall advance to the general election as the nonpartisan nominee for the office. M. O. Except in cases where the liability is being appealed, the filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office if the person is liable for an aggregation of $1,000 or more in fines, penalties, late fees or administrative or civil judgments, including any interest or costs, in any combination, that have not been fully satisfied at the time of the attempted filing of the nomination paper and the liability arose from failure to comply with or enforcement of chapter 6 of this title. N. P. The secretary of state may authorize for statewide and legislative offices the creation, use and submission of petitions prescribed by this section in electronic form if those petitions provide for an appropriate method to verify signatures of petition circulators and signers. The secretary of state may require use of a unique marking system for petition pages, including a bar code, a quick response code or another similar marking system. END_STATUTE Sec. 2. Section 16-502, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE16-502. Form and contents of ballot A. Ballots shall be printed with black ink on white paper of sufficient thickness to prevent the printing thereon from being discernible from the back, and the same type shall be used for the names of all candidates. The ballots shall be headed "official ballot" in bold-faced plain letters, with a heavy rule above and below the heading. Immediately below shall be placed the words "type of election, (date of election)" and the name of the county and state in which the election is held. The name or number of the precinct in which the election is held shall be placed on the ballot in a uniform location for all ballots. No other matter shall be placed or printed at the head of any ballot. Instructions to the voter on marking the ballot may be printed below the heading as follows: 1. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the name of each candidate for each office for whom you wish to vote. 2. If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not printed on the ballot, write such name in the blank space provided on the ballot and put a mark according to the instructions next to the name so written. 3. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the word "yes" or "for" for each proposition or question you wish to be adopted. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the word "no" or "against" for each proposition or question you wish not to be adopted. B. Immediately below the ballot instructions shall be placed the following: Section One Partisan Ballot C. Immediately below the heading for section one there shall be placed in columns the names of the candidates of the several political parties. Next to each candidate's name there shall be printed in bold-faced letters the name of the political party. At the head of each column shall be printed the names of the offices to be filled with the name of each office being of uniform type size. At the head of each column shall be printed in the following order the names of candidates for: 1. Presidential electors, which shall be in a list and next to the list shall be printed in bold type the surname of the presidential candidate, and the surname of the vice presidential candidate who is seeking election jointly with the presidential candidate shall be listed directly below the name of the presidential candidate. The indicator for the selection of the presidential and vice presidential candidates shall be directly next to the surname of the presidential candidate, and one mark directly next to a presidential candidate's surname shall be counted as a vote for each elector in the list next to the presidential and vice presidential candidates. 2. United States senator. 3. Representatives in Congress. 4. The several state offices. 5. The several county and precinct offices. D. The names of candidates for the offices of state senator and state representative along with the district number shall be placed within the heading of each column to the right of the office name for state offices and immediately below the candidates for the office of governor. The number of the supervisorial district of which a candidate is a nominee shall be printed within the heading of each column to the right of the name of the office. E. The lists of the candidates of the several parties shall be arranged with the names of the parties in descending order according to the votes cast for governor for that county in the most recent general election for the office of governor, commencing with the left-hand column. In the case of political parties that did not have candidates on the ballot in the last general election, such parties shall be listed in alphabetical order below the parties that did have candidates on the ballot in the last general election. The names of all candidates nominated under section 16-341 shall be placed in a single column below that of the recognized parties, except if more than one candidate filed for nomination for the same office under section 16-341, qualified for the same office and appeared on a separate nonpartisan candidate primary election ballot as prescribed by section 16-341, subsections M and N, the nonpartisan candidate who received the highest number of votes for that office shall have that candidate's name placed on the ballot below that of the recognized parties. Next to the name of each candidate, in parentheses, shall be printed a three-letter abbreviation that is taken from the three words prescribed in the candidate's certificate of nomination. F. Immediately below the designation of the office to be voted for shall appear the words: "Vote for not more than _________" (insert the number to be elected). G. In each column at the right or left of the name of each candidate and on the same line there shall be a place for the voter to put a mark. Below the name of the last named candidate for each office there shall be as many blank lines as there are offices of the same title to be filled, with a place for the voter to put a mark. On the blank line the voter may write the name of any person for whom the voter desires to vote whose name is not printed, and next to the name so written the voter shall designate his choice by a mark as in the case of printed names. H. When there are two or more candidates of the same political party for the same office, or more than one candidate for a judicial office, the names of all such candidates shall be so alternated on the ballots used in each election district that the name of each candidate shall appear substantially an equal number of times in each possible location. If there are fewer or the same number of candidates seeking office than the number to be elected, the rotation of names is not required and the names shall be placed in alphabetical order. I. Immediately below section one of the ballot shall be placed the following: Section Two Nonpartisan Ballot J. Immediately below the heading for section two shall be placed the names of the candidates for justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, judges of the superior court standing for retention or rejection pursuant to article VI, section 38, Constitution of Arizona, judges of the superior court standing for election pursuant to article VI, section 12, Constitution of Arizona, school district officials and other nonpartisan officials in a column or in columns without partisan or other designation except the title of office in an order determined by the officer in charge of the election. K. Immediately below the offices listed in subsection J of this section, the ballot shall contain a separate heading of any nonpartisan office for a vacant unexpired term and shall include the expiration date of the term of the vacated office. L. All proposed constitutional amendments and other propositions or questions to be submitted to the voters shall be printed immediately below the names of candidates for nonpartisan positions in such order as the secretary of state, or if a city or town election, the city or town clerk, designates. Placement of county and local charter amendments, propositions or questions shall be determined by the officer in charge of the election. Except as provided by section 19-125, each proposition or question shall be followed by the words "yes" and "no" or "for ______" and "against ______" as the nature of the proposition or question requires, and at the right or left of and next to each of such words shall be a place for the voter to put a mark according to the instructions that is similar in size to those places appearing opposite the names of the candidates, in which the voter may indicate his vote for or against such proposition or question by a mark as defined in section 16-400. M. Instead of printing the official and descriptive titles or the full text of each measure or question on the official ballot, the officer in charge of elections may print phrases on the official ballot that contain all of the following: 1. The number of the measure in reverse type and at least twelve point twelve-point type. 2. The designation of the measure as prescribed by section 19-125, subsection C or as a question, proposition or charter amendment, followed by the words "relating to..." and inserting the subject. 3. Either the statement prescribed by section 19-125, subsection D that describes the effects of a "yes" vote and a "no" vote or, for other measures, the text of the question or proposition. 4. The words "yes" and "no" or "for" and "against", as may be appropriate and a place for the voter to put a mark. N. For any ballot printed pursuant to subsection M of this section, the instructions on the official ballot shall direct the voter to the full text of the official and descriptive titles and the questions and propositions as printed on the sample ballot and posted in the polling place. END_STATUTE Sec. 3. Conforming legislation The legislative council staff shall prepare proposed legislation conforming the Arizona Revised Statutes to the provisions of this act for consideration in the fifty-seventh legislature, second regular session.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-341, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE16-341. Nomination petition; method and time of filing; form; qualifications and number of petitioners required; statement of interest
A. Any qualified elector who is not a registered member of a political party that is recognized pursuant to this title may be nominated as a candidate for public office otherwise than by partisan primary election or by party committee pursuant to this section.
B. This article shall not be used to place on the general election ballot the name of a political party that fails to meet the qualifications specified in section 16-802 or 16-804, or the name of any candidate representing such party or the name of a candidate who has filed a nomination petition in the immediately preceding primary election and has failed to qualify as the result of an insufficient number of valid signatures.
C. A nomination petition stating the name of the office to be filled, the name and residence of the candidate, or, if the candidate does not have an actual residence address, a description of place of residence and post office address, or, if the person's actual residence address is protected pursuant to section 16-153, a post office box or private mailbox address in the candidate's district, precinct or municipality, as applicable for a district, precinct or municipal office, and other information required by this section shall be filed with the same officer with whom primary nomination papers and petitions are required to be filed as prescribed in section 16-311. Except for candidates for the office of presidential elector filed pursuant to this section, the petition shall be filed not less than one hundred twenty days nor more than one hundred fifty days before the primary election. The petition shall be signed only by voters who have not signed the nomination petitions of a candidate for the office to be voted for at that primary election.
D. The nomination petition shall be in substantially the following form, except that if the candidate does not have an actual residence address, the candidate may use a description of place of residence and post office address, or, if the candidate's actual residence address is protected pursuant to section 16-153, a post office box or private mailbox address in the candidate's district, precinct or municipality, as applicable for a district, precinct or municipal office, is sufficient:
The undersigned, qualified electors of __________ county, state of Arizona, do hereby nominate __________, who resides at __________ in the county of __________, as a candidate for the office of _______ at the general (or special, as the case may be) election to be held on the ________ day of _________, _____.
I hereby declare that I have not signed the nomination petitions of any candidate for the office to be voted for at this primary election, and I do hereby select the following designation under which name the said candidate shall be placed on the official ballot (here insert such designation not exceeding three words in length as the signers may select).
E. The nomination petition shall conform as nearly as possible to the provisions relating to nomination petitions of candidates to be voted for at partisan primary elections and shall be signed by at least the number of persons who are registered to vote determined by calculating three percent of the persons who are registered to vote of the state, county, subdivision or district for which the candidate is nominated who are not members of a political party that is qualified to be represented by an official party ballot at the next ensuing primary election and accorded representation on the general election ballot.
F. The percentage of persons who are registered to vote necessary to sign the nomination petition shall be determined by the total number of registered voters from other than political parties that are qualified to be represented by an official party ballot at the next ensuing primary election and accorded representation on the general election ballot in the state, county, subdivision or district on January 2 of the year in which the general election is held. Notwithstanding the method prescribed by subsection E of this section and this subsection for calculating the minimum number of signatures necessary, any person who is registered to vote in the state, county, subdivision or district for which the candidate is nominated is eligible to sign the nomination petition without regard to the signer's party affiliation.
G. A nomination petition for any candidate may be circulated by a person who is not a resident of this state but who is otherwise eligible to register to vote in this state if that person registers as a circulator with the secretary of state before circulating petitions. The nomination petition for the office of presidential elector shall include a group of names of candidates equal to the number of United States senators and representatives in Congress from this state instead of separate nomination petitions for each candidate for the office of presidential elector. A valid signature on a petition containing a group of presidential electors candidates is counted as a signature for the nomination of each of the candidates. The presidential candidate whom the candidates for presidential elector will represent shall designate in writing to the secretary of state the names of the candidates who will represent the presidential candidate before any signatures for the candidate can be accepted for filing. A nomination petition for the office of presidential elector shall be filed not less than eighty nor more than one hundred days before the general election. The petition shall be signed only by qualified electors who have not signed the nomination petitions of a candidate for the office of presidential elector to be voted for at that election.
H. The secretary of state shall require in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16-452 that persons who circulate nomination petitions pursuant to this section and who are not residents of this state but who are otherwise eligible to register to vote in this state shall register as circulators with the office of the secretary of state before circulating petitions. The secretary of state shall provide for a method of receiving service of process for those petition circulators who are registered.
I. Not later than the date of the first petition signature on a nomination petition, a person who may be a candidate for office pursuant to this section shall file a statement of interest with the appropriate filing officer for that office. The statement of interest shall contain the name of the person, the political party, if any, and the name of the office that may be sought. Any nomination petition signatures collected before the date the statement of interest is filed are invalid and subject to challenge. This subsection does not apply to:
1. Candidates for elected office for special taxing districts that are established pursuant to title 48.
2. Candidates for precinct committeeman.
3. Candidates for president or vice president of the United States.
J. A person who files a nomination paper pursuant to this section for the office of president of the United States shall designate in writing to the secretary of state at the time of filing the name of the candidate's vice presidential running mate, the names of the presidential electors who will represent that candidate and a statement that is signed by the vice presidential running mate and the designated presidential electors and that indicates their consent to be designated. A nomination paper for each presidential elector designated shall be filed with the candidate's nomination paper. The number of presidential electors shall equal the number of United States senators and representatives in Congress from this state.
K. A candidate who does not file a timely nomination petition that complies with this section is not eligible to have the candidate's name printed on the official ballot for that office. The filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office unless the candidate provides or has provided all of the following:
1. The financial disclosure statement as prescribed for candidates for that office.
2. The declaration of qualification and eligibility as prescribed in section 16-311.
L. Not later than sixty days before the date of the general election, a candidate for governor who files a nomination petition pursuant to this section shall submit to the secretary of state the name of the person who will be the joint candidate for lieutenant governor with that gubernatorial candidate and whose name will appear on the general election ballot jointly with the candidate for governor.
M. If more than one candidate for the same office files a nomination petition pursuant to this section and qualifies for the ballot, all of those candidates shall appear on a separate nonpartisan ballot to be voted on at the primary election if both of the following apply:
1. there is at least one partisan candidate for that same office who has filed a nomination paper and petition pursuant to sections 16-311 and 16-314.
2. The partisan candidate PRESCRIBED by paragraph 1 of this subsection qualifies to appear on the primary ELECTION ballot for a political party that is ENTITLED to continued representation on the ballot pursuant to section 16-804.
n. For The candidates who appear on the separate nonpartisan primary election ballot pursuant to subsection M of this section, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes for an office shall advance to the general election as the nonpartisan nominee for the office.
M. O. Except in cases where the liability is being appealed, the filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office if the person is liable for an aggregation of $1,000 or more in fines, penalties, late fees or administrative or civil judgments, including any interest or costs, in any combination, that have not been fully satisfied at the time of the attempted filing of the nomination paper and the liability arose from failure to comply with or enforcement of chapter 6 of this title.
N. P. The secretary of state may authorize for statewide and legislative offices the creation, use and submission of petitions prescribed by this section in electronic form if those petitions provide for an appropriate method to verify signatures of petition circulators and signers. The secretary of state may require use of a unique marking system for petition pages, including a bar code, a quick response code or another similar marking system. END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 16-502, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE16-502. Form and contents of ballot
A. Ballots shall be printed with black ink on white paper of sufficient thickness to prevent the printing thereon from being discernible from the back, and the same type shall be used for the names of all candidates. The ballots shall be headed "official ballot" in bold-faced plain letters, with a heavy rule above and below the heading. Immediately below shall be placed the words "type of election, (date of election)" and the name of the county and state in which the election is held. The name or number of the precinct in which the election is held shall be placed on the ballot in a uniform location for all ballots. No other matter shall be placed or printed at the head of any ballot. Instructions to the voter on marking the ballot may be printed below the heading as follows:
1. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the name of each candidate for each office for whom you wish to vote.
2. If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not printed on the ballot, write such name in the blank space provided on the ballot and put a mark according to the instructions next to the name so written.
3. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the word "yes" or "for" for each proposition or question you wish to be adopted. Put a mark according to the instructions next to the word "no" or "against" for each proposition or question you wish not to be adopted.
B. Immediately below the ballot instructions shall be placed the following:
Section One
Partisan Ballot
C. Immediately below the heading for section one there shall be placed in columns the names of the candidates of the several political parties. Next to each candidate's name there shall be printed in bold-faced letters the name of the political party. At the head of each column shall be printed the names of the offices to be filled with the name of each office being of uniform type size. At the head of each column shall be printed in the following order the names of candidates for:
1. Presidential electors, which shall be in a list and next to the list shall be printed in bold type the surname of the presidential candidate, and the surname of the vice presidential candidate who is seeking election jointly with the presidential candidate shall be listed directly below the name of the presidential candidate. The indicator for the selection of the presidential and vice presidential candidates shall be directly next to the surname of the presidential candidate, and one mark directly next to a presidential candidate's surname shall be counted as a vote for each elector in the list next to the presidential and vice presidential candidates.
2. United States senator.
3. Representatives in Congress.
4. The several state offices.
5. The several county and precinct offices.
D. The names of candidates for the offices of state senator and state representative along with the district number shall be placed within the heading of each column to the right of the office name for state offices and immediately below the candidates for the office of governor. The number of the supervisorial district of which a candidate is a nominee shall be printed within the heading of each column to the right of the name of the office.
E. The lists of the candidates of the several parties shall be arranged with the names of the parties in descending order according to the votes cast for governor for that county in the most recent general election for the office of governor, commencing with the left-hand column. In the case of political parties that did not have candidates on the ballot in the last general election, such parties shall be listed in alphabetical order below the parties that did have candidates on the ballot in the last general election. The names of all candidates nominated under section 16-341 shall be placed in a single column below that of the recognized parties, except if more than one candidate filed for nomination for the same office under section 16-341, qualified for the same office and appeared on a separate nonpartisan candidate primary election ballot as prescribed by section 16-341, subsections M and N, the nonpartisan candidate who received the highest number of votes for that office shall have that candidate's name placed on the ballot below that of the recognized parties. Next to the name of each candidate, in parentheses, shall be printed a three-letter abbreviation that is taken from the three words prescribed in the candidate's certificate of nomination.
F. Immediately below the designation of the office to be voted for shall appear the words: "Vote for not more than _________" (insert the number to be elected).
G. In each column at the right or left of the name of each candidate and on the same line there shall be a place for the voter to put a mark. Below the name of the last named candidate for each office there shall be as many blank lines as there are offices of the same title to be filled, with a place for the voter to put a mark. On the blank line the voter may write the name of any person for whom the voter desires to vote whose name is not printed, and next to the name so written the voter shall designate his choice by a mark as in the case of printed names.
H. When there are two or more candidates of the same political party for the same office, or more than one candidate for a judicial office, the names of all such candidates shall be so alternated on the ballots used in each election district that the name of each candidate shall appear substantially an equal number of times in each possible location. If there are fewer or the same number of candidates seeking office than the number to be elected, the rotation of names is not required and the names shall be placed in alphabetical order.
I. Immediately below section one of the ballot shall be placed the following:
Section Two
Nonpartisan Ballot
J. Immediately below the heading for section two shall be placed the names of the candidates for justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, judges of the superior court standing for retention or rejection pursuant to article VI, section 38, Constitution of Arizona, judges of the superior court standing for election pursuant to article VI, section 12, Constitution of Arizona, school district officials and other nonpartisan officials in a column or in columns without partisan or other designation except the title of office in an order determined by the officer in charge of the election.
K. Immediately below the offices listed in subsection J of this section, the ballot shall contain a separate heading of any nonpartisan office for a vacant unexpired term and shall include the expiration date of the term of the vacated office.
L. All proposed constitutional amendments and other propositions or questions to be submitted to the voters shall be printed immediately below the names of candidates for nonpartisan positions in such order as the secretary of state, or if a city or town election, the city or town clerk, designates. Placement of county and local charter amendments, propositions or questions shall be determined by the officer in charge of the election. Except as provided by section 19-125, each proposition or question shall be followed by the words "yes" and "no" or "for ______" and "against ______" as the nature of the proposition or question requires, and at the right or left of and next to each of such words shall be a place for the voter to put a mark according to the instructions that is similar in size to those places appearing opposite the names of the candidates, in which the voter may indicate his vote for or against such proposition or question by a mark as defined in section 16-400.
M. Instead of printing the official and descriptive titles or the full text of each measure or question on the official ballot, the officer in charge of elections may print phrases on the official ballot that contain all of the following:
1. The number of the measure in reverse type and at least twelve point twelve-point type.
2. The designation of the measure as prescribed by section 19-125, subsection C or as a question, proposition or charter amendment, followed by the words "relating to..." and inserting the subject.
3. Either the statement prescribed by section 19-125, subsection D that describes the effects of a "yes" vote and a "no" vote or, for other measures, the text of the question or proposition.
4. The words "yes" and "no" or "for" and "against", as may be appropriate and a place for the voter to put a mark.
N. For any ballot printed pursuant to subsection M of this section, the instructions on the official ballot shall direct the voter to the full text of the official and descriptive titles and the questions and propositions as printed on the sample ballot and posted in the polling place. END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Conforming legislation
The legislative council staff shall prepare proposed legislation conforming the Arizona Revised Statutes to the provisions of this act for consideration in the fifty-seventh legislature, second regular session.