ARIZONA — The Protect Education, Accountability Now campaign submitted 421,451 signatures to the Arizona secretary of state on July 2, 2026. The submission met the deadline for ballot access in the November 2026 election and exceeded the required threshold for an initiated state statute.

The campaign was the only one among six initiatives filed for the 2026 election to submit signatures by the July 2 deadline. To qualify a state statute for Arizona's ballot, supporters must collect signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election, which amounted to 255,949 valid signatures. The submitted total of more than 421,000 represents a surplus over that requirement.

The Protect Education, Accountability Now measure would amend Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. Under the proposed statute, eligibility for ESA funds would be limited to families earning less than $150,000 annually, beginning in the 2027–2028 school year. That income threshold would be adjusted upward by 2% each year thereafter.

The initiative would also impose new restrictions on how ESA funds may be spent. It would prohibit using the accounts to pay for out-of-state travel, dining, amusement park tickets, home appliances, or home improvements. Additionally, the measure would ban payments to family members from ESA funds, with an exception for students with disabilities.

The Arizona Education Association and Save Our Schools Arizona have both endorsed the initiative. Nicky Indicavitch, statewide outreach director for Save Our Schools Arizona, said, "[The initiative is] going to give taxpayers in Arizona some peace of mind that the dollars we send to educate young people in the state of Arizona don't get spent on things that are wildly inappropriate. You know we've all seen the reports recently about diamond rings, gift cards, expensive trips, [and] lingerie."

Opposition to the measure has come from education choice advocates and some lawmakers. Ed Choice opposed the initiative, and State Rep. Steve Montenegro (R-29) criticized it as well. Montenegro said the initiative, "is a direct attack on parents — working families, military families, rural families, and families of children with special needs — who finally have options and refuse to give them up. ESA opponents are willing to sacrifice students' futures to protect an education bureaucracy that puts its own power ahead of kids."

Meanwhile, the Arizona State Legislature placed a separate constitutional amendment on the ballot on June 13, 2026. That amendment would shield military families' scholarship accounts from state confiscation and include a provision making any conflicting voter-approved measure — including the Protect Education, Accountability Now initiative — void if it violates the amendment's terms. Under Arizona law, if two conflicting measures are approved by voters, the one receiving the most votes becomes law.