2008 Arizona Proposition 102

Arizona Proposition 102
Results
Yes 70–80% 60–70% 50–60%	No 50–60%

Arizona Proposition 102 was an amendment to the constitution of the state of Arizona adopted by a ballot measure held in 2008. It added Article 30 of the Arizona Constitution, which says: "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."^[2] The amendment added a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to existing statutory bans in place since 1996.^[3] In October 2014, Article 30 of the Arizona Constitution was struck down as unconstitutional in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, and is no longer enforced by the state of Arizona, which now allows and recognizes same-sex marriages.^[4]

Despite the court ruling, Article 30 still remains on the state's constitution, and on the Arizona State Legislature's website, there are no notes within the page for Article 30 that that part of the constitution was struck down or otherwise rendered inoperative.^[5]

Overview[]

On August 26, 2008, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Secretary of State Jan Brewer agreed that the ballot description would state that same-sex marriage was already prohibited by statute.^[6] Incorporating the same provision into the Arizona Constitution was meant to prevent an Arizona court from ruling that the statute was invalid under the Arizona Constitution.

Along with similar measures in California (California Proposition 8 (2008)) and Florida (Florida Amendment 2 (2008)), Proposition 102 was decided by voters in the general election on November 4, 2008. The amendment passed by a margin of 56% in favor and 44% against.

Proposition 102 had no immediate impact because its definition of marriage was consistent with the existing statutory definition.^[7] As an amendment to the Constitution of Arizona, the definition cannot be changed by the state legislature, and the possibility that a state court might find a state constitutional guarantee of same-sex couples' right to marry is eliminated.

Supporters and opponents[]

As of August 27, 2008 three committees related to Proposition 102 were registered with the Secretary of State:^[8] YESforMarriage.com supporting Prop 102 was the one committee in support, and the two committees in opposition were No on Prop 102 and Arizona Together Opposed to Prop 102.

Supporters said that Proposition 102 was necessary to prevent judges changing the legal definition of marriage, as was done in Massachusetts, California, Connecticut and Iowa. Opponents said that Proposition 102 was unnecessary because same-sex marriage was already illegal in Arizona, and that there were more pressing issues facing Arizona; also they cited the issue of the separation of church and state.^[9]

Miscellaneous[]

Proposition 102 was placed on the ballot via referendum rather than through the initiative process on the last day of the legislative session. Presiding State Senator Jack Harper defeated a filibuster on June 27, 2008 to place the proposed Constitutional Amendment on the ballot. Harper faced an ethics investigation over allegedly violating Senate rules by cutting off the microphones of two senators who were attempting to filibuster the bill.^[10] Despite the fact that Harper admitted to cutting off the microphones intentionally,^[11] a Senate ethics committee consisting of three Republicans and two Democrats voted 3–2, along strict party lines, to dismiss the charges.^[12]

State Senators Jack W. Harper, Ronald Gould, Thayer Verschoor, and John Huppenthal stood out as the proponents of the Marriage Amendment to the Arizona State Constitution. The language of Prop 102 was adopted as a strike-everything amendment to Senator Gould's SCR1042.

In 2006, a more restrictive measure, Proposition 107, had been defeated in the general election.

Results[]

Arizona Proposition 102^[13]
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,258,355	56.2
No	980,753	43.8
Total votes	2,239,078	100.00

By county[]

Election results by county.

Yes

No

County^[14]	Yes (%)	Yes (#)	No (%)	No (#)
Apache	76%	18,044	23%	5,405
Cochise	63%	30,492	37%	17,582
Coconino	50%	26,845	49%	26,264
Gila	68%	14,443	32%	6,884
Graham	80%	9,406	20%	2,352
Greenlee	73%	2,024	27%	744
La Paz	66%	3,524	34%	1,785
Maricopa	55%	741,797	45%	595,077
Mohave	66%	43,258	34%	21,861
Navajo	75%	25,317	25%	8,460
Pima	49%	188,942	51%	195,148
Pinal	61%	62,425	39%	39,457
Santa Cruz	52%	6,412	48%	5,902
Yavapai	61%	59,497	39%	38,546
Yuma	63%	25,929	37%	15,286
Total	56.2%	1,258,355	44%	980,753

Full text[]

Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring:
1. Article XXX, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be added as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:
ARTICLE XXX. MARRIAGE
SECTION 1. ONLY A UNION OF ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN SHALL BE VALID OR RECOGNIZED AS A MARRIAGE IN THIS STATE.
2. The Secretary of State shall submit this proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided by article XXI, Constitution of Arizona.

References[]

^ "State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2008 General Election – November 4, 2008" (PDF). Secretary of State of Arizona. 2008-12-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ "Senate Concurrent Resolution 1042". 2008-08-26.
^ McKinley, Jesse (October 29, 2008). "Same-Sex Marriage on the Ballot in Arizona, a Second Time". The New York Times.
^ Westfall, Julie. "Arizona and Wyoming gay marriage bans struck down". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
^ "Article XXX: Marriage". Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
^ "Voters to be told gay vows already banned". The Arizona Daily Star. 2008-08-27. Archived from the original on 1 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
^ "Arizona Revised Statutes 25–101". 2008-08-26.
^ "Political Committees, Arizona Ballot Measure". 2008-08-26. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18.
^ Walkup, Bob; Walkup, Beth. "Publicity Pamphlet Argument" Vote NO on Proposition 102, October 22, 2008.
^ "State senator faces ethics probe in same-sex marriage debate". Tucson Citizen. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
^ "Ethics Committee to question Harper in microphone flap". East Valley Tribune. 2008-07-28. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
^ "Ethics panel votes to investigate Harper". Arizona Capitol Times. July 28, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
^ "State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2008 General Election – November 4, 2008" (PDF). Secretary of State of Arizona. 2008-12-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ "Arizona Secretary of State: 2008 general election – Ballot measures". Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2010-04-20.

External links[]

YESforMarriage.com (Yes on Prop 102)
Arizona Together (No on Prop 102)
Arizona Proposition 102 (2008) – Ballotpedia
The Money Behind the 2008 Same-Sex Partnership Ballot Measures – The National Institute On Money In State Politics

[1] "State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2008 General Election – November 4, 2008" (PDF). Secretary of State of Arizona. 2008-12-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-13.

[2] "Senate Concurrent Resolution 1042". 2008-08-26.

[3] McKinley, Jesse (October 29, 2008). "Same-Sex Marriage on the Ballot in Arizona, a Second Time". The New York Times.

[4] Westfall, Julie. "Arizona and Wyoming gay marriage bans struck down". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 December 2014.

[5] "Article XXX: Marriage". Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved August 23, 2021.

[6] "Voters to be told gay vows already banned". The Arizona Daily Star. 2008-08-27. Archived from the original on 1 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-01.

[7] "Arizona Revised Statutes 25–101". 2008-08-26.

[8] "Political Committees, Arizona Ballot Measure". 2008-08-26. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18.

[9] Walkup, Bob; Walkup, Beth. "Publicity Pamphlet Argument" Vote NO on Proposition 102, October 22, 2008.

[10] "State senator faces ethics probe in same-sex marriage debate". Tucson Citizen. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-09-01.

[11] "Ethics Committee to question Harper in microphone flap". East Valley Tribune. 2008-07-28. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-17.

[12] "Ethics panel votes to investigate Harper". Arizona Capitol Times. July 28, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2021.

[13] "State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2008 General Election – November 4, 2008" (PDF). Secretary of State of Arizona. 2008-12-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-13.

[14] "Arizona Secretary of State: 2008 general election – Ballot measures". Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2010-04-20.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

v t U.S. same-sex unions ballot measures
1990s	Hawaii Constitutional Amendment 2 (1998, see note¹) Alaska Ballot Measure 2 (1998, ban)
2000s	California Proposition 22 (2000, ban) Nebraska Initiative 416 (2000, ban) Nevada Question 2 (2002, ban) Arkansas Constitutional Amendment 3 (2004, ban) Georgia Constitutional Amendment 1 (2004, ban) Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 1 (2004, ban) Louisiana Constitutional Amendment 1 (2004, ban) Michigan Proposal 04-2 (2004, ban) Mississippi Amendment 1 (2004, ban) Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2004, ban) Montana Initiative 96 (2004, ban) North Dakota Constitutional Measure 1 (2004, ban) Ohio Issue 1 (2004, ban) Oklahoma Question 711 (2004, ban) Oregon Ballot Measure 36 (2004, ban) Utah Constitutional Amendment 3 (2004, ban) Kansas Amendment 1 (2005) Texas Proposition 2 (2005, ban) Alabama Amendment 774 (2006) Arizona Proposition 107 (2006, constitutional ban defeated) Colorado Amendment 43 (2006, ban) Idaho Amendment 2 (2006) South Carolina Amendment 1 (2006, ban) South Dakota Amendment C (2006) Tennessee Amendment 1 (2006, ban) Marshall-Newman Amendment (Virginia) (2006, ban) Wisconsin Referendum 1 (2006, ban) Arizona Proposition 102 (2008, ban) California Proposition 8 (2008, ban) Florida Amendment 2 (2008, ban) Maine Question 1 (2009, legalizing legislation defeated)
2010s	North Carolina Amendment 1 (2012, ban) Maine Question 1 (2012, legalization) Maryland Question 6 (2012, legalization) Minnesota Amendment 1 (2012, proposed ban defeated) Washington Referendum 74 (2012, legalization)
2020s	Nevada Question 2 (2020, legalization)
¹: De facto ban, granted Legislature authority to ban same-sex marriage. Reversed in 2013 by the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act.