The group behind the “Protect Education Act” ballot measure turned in 421,451 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office Thursday morning, and is one step closer to getting their initiative on the November ballot.
It needs 255,949 valid signatures to qualify.
Over 100 supporters gathered at the Arizona Capitol to watch and celebrate as workers unloaded five and a half pallets of boxes with pages of signatures inside.
The crowd cheered each time a pallet was unloaded from the truck. Volunteers who gathered signatures over the past few months shouted things like, “That’s a lot of boxes,” and “This is what democracy looks like.”
“We are feeling really great,” said Olivia Fierro, campaign spokesperson for the Protect Education Act. “It’s really exciting. We’re really happy with this number. We were hoping to get to 400,000 [signatures], and this number is big.”
If voters approve the Protect Education Act ballot measure, universal school vouchers for families that make over $150,000 a year would be eliminated, with exceptions for families that have students with disabilities. It would also ban the use of voucher funds for non-educational and luxury items, require voucher-funded schools to comply with safety standards like background checks, and send 90% of unspent voucher money back to public schools.
It is the first chance for voters to regulate a program that has cost Arizonans over $1 billion since it became universal in 2022.
Reaching the ballot is just the beginning for the Protect Education Act. There’s another ballot measure being put forth by Arizona Republicans in the state Legislature as a last-ditch effort to prevent universal school voucher reform, even if the Protect Education Act does pass.
HCR 2048’s initial purpose was to protect school vouchers for students of military families.
A final change to HCR 2048 added a provision that would annul the Protect Education Act, even if it were approved by 100% of Arizona voters.
READ MORE: Arizona GOP rushes last-minute ballot measure to kill voter-driven voucher reform
“It is really distasteful to be utilizing our military families in such a way to trick voters,” Fierro said. “We don’t want them to be used that way.”
She said one of the goals for the campaign is to teach voters what HCR 2048 is, and explain that it was created to distract and deceive voters.
Up next for supporters of the Protect Education Act is voter education. A simple majority is needed for it to pass, and Fierro said she trusts volunteers to keep up the good work.
“They do incredible work,” she said. “These folks have been unstoppable. It’s been a real incredible joy to see how resilient the volunteers have been, and I just know they’re going to carry us all the way through to November.”
