Arizona lawsuit challenges signatures for school voucher ballot measure

The Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club have filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court alleging that thousands of signatures collected for the Protect Education, Accountability Now Act – a citizen initiative to reform Arizona’s $1 billion private‑school voucher program – are invalid. The plaintiffs claim more than 73,000 of the over 420,000 signatures were gathered by paid circulators, some of whom have felony convictions, and contain false or incomplete information.

The ballot measure, if approved, would impose a $150,000 household‑income limit on eligibility for the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, redirect unused voucher funds to public schools and introduce new requirements such as fingerprinting for private‑school staff. Opponents of the measure, including the National Education Association and the Arizona Education Association, have contributed more than $7 million to the campaign.

Separately, Republican lawmakers passed House Concurrent Resolution 2048, which frames the voucher reforms as a benefit for military families but is viewed by critics as an attempt to invalidate the initiative. Lawyers representing the Protect Education Act have also filed a legal challenge to block the resolution. The combined legal actions are set to be heard this week.