Several proposed state constitutional amendments have been introduced in the Arizona legislature, dealing with how legislators are elected. Currently, Arizona has 30 legislative districts. Each district elects one State Senator. Also, each district elects two State Representatives. The ballot for State Representative says “Vote for Two Candidates” and each party is permitted to run two candidates.

HCR 2006 would provide that the state will have 60 State Representative districts in the future, with each district electing one member.

HCR 2007 would provide that the State Constitution should no longer specify that the House has 60 members. Instead, the Constitution would say that there must be a state House district for each 100,000 population. Therefore, as Arizona gains population, the size of the House would grow.

HCR 2003, a rival idea, also pertains to State House elections. It would simply provide that candidates for State House would file either for Position “A” or Position “B”. Although each district would continue to elect two House members, each district would have separate elections for the two members. First the voters would choose a candidate for Position “A”; then they would vote for Position “B”.

If the legislature passes any of these changes, the voters would then vote on the proposal.

Separate from that, SB 1006 would move the Arizona primary from early September, back to mid-September. If that bill passed, it would automatically improve the petition deadline for independent candidates by a week, although even then, Arizona would still have the nation’s 2nd earliest independent presidential petition deadline.