Supreme Court orders GOP to rewrite ‘argumentative’ voucher measure summary

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Republican lawmakers' summary of Proposition 212, a measure to add income caps and accountability rules to the state's school voucher program, illegally tries to sway voters against it. Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer wrote that the GOP-drafted description — which claimed the initiative would let its campaign committee "sue the families and private schools" using vouchers — cherry-picked one reading of one provision to cast the whole measure negatively.

The voucher program, expanded to universal eligibility in 2022, now costs the state more than $1 billion annually and has funded purchases including pianos and luxury car driving lessons. Republicans have separately tried to place a competing measure on the ballot that would nullify Prop. 212 even if voters approve it, though a Maricopa County judge already struck that from the ballot, a ruling now under appeal.

The court's decision upholds a lower court order requiring Republicans to rewrite the voter pamphlet summary to meet the state's impartiality standard.

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