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Challenge to Arizona school voucher expansion won't get on ballot, state officials confirm

The new universal school voucher law is now in effect after Secretary of State Katie Hobbs confirmed the measure did not recieve enough signatures.

ARIZONA, USA — Arizona voters will not have the opprotunitiy to vote on whether the state should implement a new universal school voucher law, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said.

A citizen-led referendum reportedly failed to get enough verified petition signatures to get the measure on the 2024 ballot.

"While review of the petition sheets and the signatures thereon is ongoing, the Secretary of State's Office has...determine(d) that the number of petition signatures eligible for verification will fail to meet the constitutional minimum of 118,823 signatures," Hobbs' office said.

The failure of the measure to gain enough signatures means the voucher expansion is now law.

Save Our Schools were expected to fall short on signatures

The organization behind the referendum, Save Our Schools Arizona, didn't appear to be on track to achieve its goal of blocking the expansion after initial reports came out soon after they submitted their collected signatures. 

Director Beth Lewis announced they had turned in more than 141,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office. But on Monday, Lewis acknowledged the organization submitted fewer signatures than originally advertised.

According to the Associated Press, observers inside the Secretary of State’s Office say Save Our Schools Arizona actually submitted 88,866 signatures.

Asked why there was such a discrepancy between Friday’s announcement and the actual totals, Lewis said her organization was basing its numbers on spreadsheets from eight different regional teams.

This is a developing story. Tune in to 12News for the latest information.

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