State clarifies ballot description for Prop. 102

Arizona voters will be told when they go to the polls that it is already illegal for gays to marry in this state.

Secretary of State Jan Brewer agreed late Tuesday to add that fact to the description of Proposition 102, which will appear on the November ballots. That measure would put a ban on same-sex marriages into the state constitution.

Brewer - along with supporters of the measure - originally did not want that language, saying it would only confuse voters. Attorney General Terry Goddard had insisted it was necessary.

Goddard, in turn agreed to wording which informs those going to the polls that voting against Proposition 102 would leave Arizona with only a statute - and without a constitutional amendment defining marriage.

The agreement ends the lawsuit Brewer had filed against Goddard when the pair could not agree on how to describe the effects on the measure.

But that may not end the dispute: Peter Gentala, attorney for the Center for Arizona Policy, said Proposition 102 supporters filed their own lawsuit late Tuesday demanding that any reference to state law be stripped from the description.

That lawsuit, however, may be too late. Deputy Secretary of State Kevin Tyne said the final go-ahead was given Tuesday night to start printing the publicity pamphlets that will go to the home of every registered voter - pamphlets that, like the ballots themselves, will have the agreed-upon description.

And the printing of the general election ballots begins Thursday.

There was no agreement, however, in a separate dispute Tuesday over Proposition 200.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers rejected efforts by foes of that measure to force Brewer to inform voters that approval of the measure would permanently allow payday lenders to charge fees on short-term loans that could hit 391 percent.

State Sen. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Tucson, acknowledged that payday loan stores already can charge that much. But she said voters need to be informed that if Proposition 200 is rejected, the maximum interest rate lenders can charge in Arizona will revert to 36 percent on July 1, 2010.

Myers, however, said the description Brewer crafted was legally "appropriate." And he noted that the law gives Brewer only 50 words to explain what can be complex issues.

"Choices have to be made," the judge said.

Myers also said initiative foes waited too long to sue, pointing out that Brewer's proposed language was available last month but McCune Davis did not sue until last Friday.

The spat over the gay marriage measure comes as supporters seek to convince voters that a constitutional amendment is necessary despite the 1996 law which forbids gays from marrying in this state. That same statute, approved by the Legislature, spells out that weddings legally performed in other states that recognize same-sex marriages will not be recognized here.

Gentala's group had been the prime supporter of a measure two years ago to amend the constitution to not only ban same-sex weddings but also bar government recognition of civil unions and prohibit government agencies from giving insurance and other benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. It was narrowly defeated.

In a letter last month to Brewer's office, Gentala said some people who voted against that measure "were confused about the effect of their vote." He blamed that on the fact that the ballot description pointed out that even if the measure failed, the state would still have its statutory ban on same-sex weddings.