OFFICIAL TITLE
AN INITIATIVE MEASURE
CREATING THE
Be it enacted
by the voters of the State of
SECTION 1. In title 16, add new Chapter 9:
Section 16-1201. INTENT
A. The
people of
B. The
intent of the Arizona Voter Reward Act is to increase voter turnout at the
state primary and general elections. Only eligible voters who vote at an
eligible election shall be eligible to participate. Only voters who consent to
participate may receive a reward. The winner of the reward shall be determined
by lot.
C. Notwithstanding
any other provisions of law to the contrary, it shall be lawful for the Arizona
Voter Reward Commission to offer the reward to electors as an inducement to
vote.
D. The
Arizona Voter Reward is open to all
Section 16-1202. DEFINITIONS
A. In
this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “ACT”
means the Arizona Voter Reward Act.
(2) “ARIZONA
VOTER REWARD FUND” shall consist of monies and other items of value received by
the Arizona Voter Reward Commission for the purpose of making rewards to
eligible voters under this Act.
(3) “COMMISSION”
means the “Arizona Voter Reward Commission.”
(4) “
(5) “ELIGIBLE
ELECTION” means the
(6) “ELIGIBLE VOTER” means a qualified Arizona
elector pursuant to A.R.S. Section 16-121 who has cast a lawful ballot at an
eligible election whether by early ballot; by mail, or in person.
(7) “FUND” means the “Arizona Voter Reward Fund.”
(8) “NUMBER”
or “VOTER REWARD NUMBER” means the unique number assigned to each eligible
voter at an eligible election which is created by the Commission or created in
coordination with county election officers.
(9) “REWARD”
means the reward provided for in this Act.
(10) “VOTER”
means “Qualified Elector” under A.R.S.§ 16-121.
Section 16-1203.
A. There
is established an “Arizona Voter Reward Commission” consisting of the members
of the Arizona State Lottery Commission.
If the Arizona State Lottery Commission is abolished or otherwise
prevented from performing the duties required by this Act the Arizona Citizens
Clean Elections Commission shall be the successor.
B. The
Governor may select another state agency to fulfill the provisions of this
Chapter should the Lottery Commission and Citizens Clean Elections Commission
be unable to act.
C. The
Chairman of the Arizona State Lottery Commission shall be the Chairman of the
Arizona Voter Reward Commission.
D. The
executive director of the State Lottery shall be the Administrator of the
Arizona Voter Reward Commission.
E. The
administrative expenses of the Commission shall be paid from the Fund. Such expenses shall not exceed seven per cent
of the total annual receipts of the Fund.
Section 16-1204. ELIGIBILITY FOR REWARD
To qualify to receive a reward, a voter must be an
eligible voter who consents to participate in an eligible election. The
appearance of the voter’s name upon a precinct roll used at an eligible
election together with his/her signature thereon shall prima facie be proof of
the voter’s eligible status.
Section 16-1205.
A. The
Arizona Voter Reward Fund is created and it shall be held and administered by
the Commission and shall consist of the monies and other items of value
received by the fund or Commission on behalf of the fund.
B. The
legislature may appropriate additional funds if revenues from other sources are
inadequate.
Section 16-1206. MANNER OF SELECTION OF VOTER
REWARD NUMBER
A. The
county officer, in coordination with the Commission, shall assign unique
numbers to eligible voters who cast lawful ballots in each primary and general
election and deliver the lists of numbers and corresponding names of voters to
the Commission within 30 days after final canvass of the general election. The
lists shall be accompanied by the transmitting officers’ attestation that each
such voter on the list is an eligible voter who cast a ballot at the
immediately preceding primary or general election. If a voter casts a vote in
both the primary and general elections, he or she will be assigned two unique
numbers.
B. The
county officer shall prepare an additional list which identifies the voter
assigned to each number, except that the secrecy of names of confidential
voters under A.R.S.§ 16-153 shall be maintained. Should a number be selected as a winner which
is assigned to a confidential voter, the Commission shall contact the county
officer who shall privately contact the voter concerning the reward. Unless the winner declines the reward, the
Commission shall require the public disclosure of the name of a winning voter
but not the address.
C. The
Commission shall prescribe the format of the voter number assigned by each
county officer so that the numbers are compatible with a lottery-type game and
are not duplicative of any other numbers.
D. The
Commission shall determine the manner in which numbers will be selected for
second rewards.
Section 16-1207. SELECTION OF WINNERS
A. The
Commission shall select the winner of the rewards by a lottery drawing.
Drawings shall be public. The Commission may adopt such other procedures as are
appropriate to publicize and promote the drawings.
B. Prior
to announcement of the name of a reward winner, the Commission shall verify the
eligible status of the winner.
C. A
reward is not transferable except in the event of death of the winner prior to
the drawing. In such event, the reward shall go to the heir or heirs of the
deceased.
D. Proof
of a fraudulent voter registration shall disqualify any winner and the
Commission shall seek to recover the prize awarded, if any.
E. The
date of the drawing shall be established by the Commission after receipt of
voter reward numbers from all the lists from the county officers.
Section 16-1208. DETERMINATION OF REWARD
AMOUNT
A. Subject
to the availability of funds, a First Reward of one million dollars
($1,000,000.00) or more, adjusted for inflation, shall be awarded at each
drawing.
B. The
Commission may establish as many second rewards as feasible. Second rewards may
consist of money or anything of value received by the Commission for the
purpose of the Act.
C. Procedures
for payments to winners from the Arizona Voter Reward Fund shall be established
by rule or order of the Commission. Notwithstanding any other statute, monies
in the Arizona Voter Reward Fund are not subject to appropriation by the
legislature. Monies in the fund shall be exempt from the lapsing provisions of
A.R.S.§ 35-190.
Section 16-1209. CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS AND
PENALTIES
A. A person
who knowingly violates any provision of this Article is guilty of a class 1
misdemeanor.
B. Any
person who knowingly receives a prize when ineligible to vote by reason of
conviction of a felony that has not been expunged or voting rights have not been restored or by lack of United
States citizenship is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Section 16-1210. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION
A. The
Commission shall:
1. Develop,
in coordination with the county officers, a procedure for including, with
ballots mailed to electors casting early ballots pursuant to section 16-542,
subsection c and with the sample ballots mailed to other electors pursuant to
section 16-461, subsection d and section 16-510, subsection c, informational
messages concerning the rewards under the Act.
The county board of supervisors shall present to the Commission a
certified claim for the actual cost of including the messages in such mailings
in accordance with the procedure developed, and the Commission shall direct
payment of the claims from the fund.
2. Sponsor
nonpartisan events in such manner as determined by the Commission for the
purpose of promoting voter registration and turnout. The Commission may specify
by rule the details of such events.
3. Prescribe
forms for reports, statements, notices, and other documents required by this
article.
4. Prepare
and publish instructions concerning methods of bookkeeping and preservation of
records to facilitate compliance with this article.
5. Prescribe
powers and duties for staff persons and committees created by the Commission in
carrying out the purposes of the Act.
6. Produce
a yearly report to the Governor describing the Commission’s activities, any
recommendations for changes of law, administration, or funding amounts, and
accounting for monies in the fund.
7. The
Commission may adopt rules to carry out the purposes and provisions of this
article and to govern procedures of the Commission.
8. Prescribe
procedures for the acceptance of donation of monies or items of value from the
public.
9. Otherwise
enforce the provisions of this Act.
Section 16-1211. CONSTRUCTION
AND SEVERABILITY.
This Act
shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the intent and purposes stated
herein. The provisions of this Act shall be severable and if any phrase,
clause, sentence or provision of this compact is held or declared to be
invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the
Act which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or application,
and to this end the provisions of the Act are severable.
In
any court challenge to the validity of this article, the Commission and
Arizonans For Voter Rewards shall have standing to intervene.
SECTION 2.
In title 5, Chapter 5, Article 1, the following
amendments shall be made:
§5-518. DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PRIZE MONEY
Unclaimed prize money for the prize on a winning
ticket or share shall be retained for the person entitled to the prize for one
hundred eighty days after the drawing in which the prize was won in the case of
a drawing prize and for one hundred eighty days after the announced end of the
game in question in the case of a prize determined in any manner other than by
means of a drawing. If a claim is not made for the money within the applicable
period, TWENTY PER CENT OF THE PRIZE MONEY SHALL BE TRANSFERRED MONTHLY TO THE
ARIZONA VOTER REWARD FUND, FIFTY seventy per cent of the prize money
shall be held in the state lottery prize fund for use as additional prizes in
future games and thirty per cent shall be transferred monthly to the court
appointed special advocate fund established by section 8-524. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF LAW TO THE
CONTRARY, BEGINNING ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, THE
SECTION 3.
In title 5, Chapter 5, Article 1, the following
amendments shall be made:
§5-522. USE OF MONIES IN STATE LOTTERY FUND
A. The
monies in the state lottery fund shall be expended only for the following
purposes and in the order provided:
1. For
the expenses of the commission incurred in carrying out its powers and duties
and in the operation of the lottery AND THE ARIZONA VOTER REWARD ACT.
2. For
payment to the commerce and economic development commission fund established by
section 41-1505.10 of not less than twenty-one and one-half per cent of the
revenues received from the sale of two special lottery games conducted for the
benefit of economic development.
3. Except
as provided in subsection F of this section, for payment to the local
transportation assistance fund established by section 28-8101 of not less than
twenty-nine per cent of the revenues received from the sale of multistate
lottery games, up to a maximum of eighteen million dollars each fiscal year.
4. For payment
to the state general fund of not less than twenty-one and one-half per cent of the
revenues received from the sale of any instant bingo games conducted by the
state lottery and not less than twenty-nine per cent of the revenues received
from the sale of any on-line three-number games conducted by the state lottery,
up to a maximum of ten million dollars each fiscal year, except that if on or
before June 1 of each fiscal year the state lottery director determines that
monies available to the Arizona state parks board heritage fund under
subsection D of this section may not equal ten million dollars in that fiscal
year or that the monies available to the Arizona game and fish commission
heritage fund under subsection D of this section may not equal ten million
dollars in that fiscal year, or both, the director shall authorize deposits to
the Arizona state parks board heritage fund in an amount so that the total
monies in that fund in that fiscal year equal ten million dollars or to the
Arizona game and fish commission heritage fund in an amount so that the total
monies in that fund in that fiscal year equal ten million dollars, or both. The
state lottery director shall not make any deposits pursuant to this paragraph
until after the director's determination each fiscal year.
5. Of
the monies remaining in the state lottery fund from the sale of instant bingo
games and on-line three-number games each fiscal year, thirty per cent shall be
allocated to the funds and programs described in subsection E of this section
and seventy per cent shall be deposited in the local transportation assistance
fund established by section 28-8101. The director shall not allocate more than
the amount specified in subsection E of this section for each fiscal year to
the funds and programs described in subsection E of this section from the state
lottery fund pursuant to this paragraph and subsection E of this section. A
maximum of eighteen million dollars may be deposited in the local
transportation assistance fund each fiscal year from the state lottery fund
pursuant to this paragraph and paragraph 3 of this
subsection.
B. Of
the monies remaining in the state lottery fund after the appropriations
authorized in subsection A of this section seventy-five per cent up to a
maximum of twenty-three million dollars each fiscal year shall be deposited in
the local transportation assistance fund established pursuant to section
28-8101 and twenty-five per cent up to a maximum of seven million six hundred
fifty thousand dollars each fiscal year shall be deposited in the county
assistance fund established pursuant to section 41-175. Monies distributed
pursuant to this subsection shall be in addition to monies distributed pursuant
to subsection A, paragraphs 3 and 5 of this section.
C. Notwithstanding
subsection B of this section, if the state lottery director determines at the
beginning of any fiscal year that monies available to cities, towns and
counties under this section may not equal thirty million six hundred fifty
thousand dollars, the director shall not authorize deposits to the county
assistance fund until the deposits to the local transportation assistance fund
equal twenty-three million dollars.
D. Of
the monies remaining in the state lottery fund each fiscal year after
appropriations and deposits authorized in subsections A, B and C of this
section, ten million dollars shall be deposited in the Arizona state parks
board heritage fund established pursuant to section 41-502 and ten million
dollars shall be deposited in the Arizona game and fish commission heritage
fund established pursuant to section 17-297.
E. Of the monies remaining in the
state lottery fund each fiscal year after appropriations and deposits
authorized in subsections A, B, C and D of this section, and appropriations and
deposits to the local transportation assistance fund authorized by this
section, five million dollars shall be allocated to the department of economic
security for the healthy families program established by section 8-701, four
million dollars shall be allocated to the Arizona board of regents for the
Arizona area health education system established by section 15-1643, three
million dollars shall be allocated to the department of health services to fund
the teenage pregnancy prevention programs established in Laws 1995, chapter
190, sections 2 and 3, two million dollars shall be allocated to the department
of health services for the health start program established by section 36-697,
two million dollars shall be deposited in the disease control research fund
established by section 36-274 and one million dollars shall be allocated to the
department of health services for the federal women, infants and children food
program. The allocations in this subsection shall be adjusted annually
according to changes in the GDP price deflator as defined in section 41-563 and
the allocations are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, relating to
lapsing of appropriations. If there are not sufficient monies available
pursuant to this subsection, the allocation of monies for each program shall be
reduced on a pro rata basis.
F. Notwithstanding
subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section, if the state lottery director
determines that monies available to the state general fund from the sale of
multistate lottery games may not equal thirty-one million dollars in a fiscal
year, the director shall not authorize deposits to the local transportation
assistance fund pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section until the deposits to the state general fund from
the sale of multistate lottery games equal thirty-one million dollars in a
fiscal year.
G. All
monies remaining in the state lottery fund after the appropriations and
deposits authorized in this section shall be deposited in the state general
fund.
H.
Except
for monies expended for prizes as provided in section 5-504, subsection H and
section 41-1505.10, monies expended under subsection A of this section shall be
subject to legislative appropriation.
SECTION 4. RETROACTIVITY
This Act shall be retroactively applied to voters who voted at the primary and general elections in the year 2006. The winners shall be selected from the county lists of voters who voted at the elections. For the year 2006 elections only, the Commission shall publicize to the public that voters who elect to not participate in the voter reward drawing must contact the Commission, at least ten days prior to the drawing, requesting that their names be removed.