Arizona voters pass ballot initiative cracking down on so-called 'dark money'
The 'Voters’ Right to Know Act' requires disclosure of individuals spending large sums of money on Arizona elections
Arizonans overwhelmingly voted in favor of a ballot initiative on Tuesday that will crack down on so-called "dark money" in elections.
Proposition 211, also known as the "Voters’ Right to Know Act," will require any organization or individual spending $50,000 on statewide races to disclose original donors that contributed $5,000 or more.
FILE PHOTO: Sign directs voters to a polling station on Election Day in Tucson, Arizona. (REUTERS/Cheney Orr / Reuters Photos)
The initiative was spearheaded by Terry Goddard, the former mayor of Phoenix and Arizona Attorney General, who told PBS before the election that it "calls for transparency in Arizona electioneering."
"If you’re going to buy a television ad or any kind of paid advertising promoting or opposing a candidate, if Prop 211 is passed, then you’ll have to say who the original source of that money was," Goddard told the news outlet.
"Voters need to know who’s behind an ad so they can evaluate it and decide in a clear way whether they want to believe it or not."
FILE PHOTO: Voters exit and enter a polling place on the afternoon of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in South Tucson, Arizona. (REUTERS/Cheney Orr / Reuters Photos)
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Proposition 211 was challenged in court, with opponents arguing that some of the signatures collected by petition circulators should be disqualified.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in September that the initiative should appear on ballots during the midterm elections.