In November, voters will decide a variety of issues - from allowing renaming the state's No. 2 office to prohibiting affirmative-action programs.

As of Thursday's filing deadline, nine measures qualified for the Nov. 2 general-election ballot. But only one initiative - an effort to legalize medical marijuana - qualified for through a citizen petition.

The other eight measures were referred to the ballot by the Legislature.

Organizers and observers attribute the low number of citizen-driven initiatives to the lagging economy, which they say made it difficult for groups to hire companies to gather signatures and get the word out about their petitions.

"Most of the groups that would be doing initiatives have to be more selective in a tight economy," said Sandy Bahr, a lobbyist with the Sierra Club. "It takes a lot of money. You have to really run two campaigns, one campaign to get it on the ballot and then you have to campaign to win."

She said some groups that would traditionally run campaigns, such as the National Rifle Association, had the legislature refer measures to the voters instead or bypass the public altogether when possible, removing the costly petition-gathering phase.

Shawn Dow, who organized an unsuccessful initiative effort to ban photo-enforcement devices, said his group fell short because they couldn't pay signature gatherers.

"It's impossible for an all-volunteer organization to get something on the ballot," he said.

For this election, initiatives needed to submit 153,365 signatures to qualify.

Past elections have seen much higher numbers citizen initiatives. In 2006, Arizona was the busiest state in the country with 19 measures, including 10 initiatives. In 2008, there were 10 ballot measures and nine voter initiatives.

Political observers said the nine ballot measures, while an interesting and diverse group, are not the type of propositions to generate large campaigns and will likely be overshadowed by statewide races.

"These are not big business issues," said Gibson McKay, a lobbyist and political consultant who has worked with several ballot proposition campaigns. "When you have the liquor interest, or gaming initiatives, those will turn people out to the polls because people are paying millions and millions of dollars to make sure of that."

Three prominent signature drives - to repeal the state's controversial new immigration law, to restructure the property tax system and to eliminate photo-enforcement traffic devices - failed to collect enough signatures.

One measure placed by the state Legislature, which would have guaranteed a secret ballot in state-run and union elections, was taken off the ballot Wednesday. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig ruled that the measure violated a constitutional provision that requires parts of an initiative to be substantively related.

Lawyers in support of the proposition said they would appeal the judge's ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court, which could decide before the election whether or not to keep the measure on the ballot.

Medical marijuana

Proposition 203, driven by the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, proposes to allow patients with a debilitating medical condition such as cancer, HIV or multiple sclerosis to purchase, possess and use 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks with a doctor's recommendation.

Non-profit dispensaries regulated by the state would grow and sell the drug to approved patients.

It still would be illegal to use marijuana in a public place or drive under the influence of marijuana, but the initiative would forbid employers from firing qualified medical-marijuana users who test positive for the drug unless they can prove patients used or were impaired while at work.

Thirteen states allow the possession of small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes, although only California has established a widespread network of dispensaries to distribute it.

Health care

Proposition 106 would amend the state Constitution to prohibit any law that requires a person, employer or health-care provider to participate in a health-care system.

The Legislature put the measure on the ballot after a similar initiative pushed by Arizonans for Health Care Freedom failed by a narrow margin in 2008. While the measure is not a reaction to the health-care law passed by the U.S. Congress in March that mandates that each individual have health insurance, it would almost directly contradict it.

Proponents of the measure say it will likely lead to lawsuits with the federal government if passed.

In the backlash against Congress' health-care bill, numerous states adopted statutory versions of the proposition or put amendments on their November ballots.

Preferential treatment

State lawmakers put Proposition 107, which would amend the Arizona Constitution to prohibit affirmative action programs, on the ballot after a similar initiative was disqualified from the 2008 ballot for not garnering enough signatures.

If passed, the law would prevent preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education and public contracting. In 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union and the student government at the University of Arizona opposed the measure.

Similar measures approved by voters in California, Michigan and Washington have spurred numerous lawsuits.

Hunting and fishing

Proposition 109 would amend the state Constitution to give Arizona citizens a right to lawfully hunt, fish and harvest wildlife, give the Legislature the exclusive authority to enact laws to regulate these activities and forbid any law from unreasonably restricting these activities. It also states that lawful public hunting and fishing would be the preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife.

The National Rifle Association supports the measure, and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club oppose it.

Stephanie Nichols-Young with the Animal Defense League of Arizona said the measure would restrict voters from putting conservation and preservation initiatives on future ballots.

Ten other states include hunting and fishing rights in their state constitutions.

Lieutenant governor

Proposition 111 would rename the position of secretary of state to become the lieutenant governor beginning with the November 2014 general election.

The lieutenant governor would assume the same duties and responsibilities as the secretary of state, including overseeing elections and being second in line for the Governor's Office.

Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor would run in separate primaries but join together on a unified ticket for the general election. The proposition makes no mention of what to do if a gubernatorial candidate runs as an independent.

Initiatives

Proposition 112 would change the deadlines for the voter-initiative process from four months before an election to six months before an election. The start date to begin gathering signatures wouldn't change.

Growing Smarter

Lawmakers looking for more money for the state budget placed Proposition 301 on the ballot to get permission to take $123 million from a land-conservation fund and use it for general purposes. The money comes from the Growing Smarter initiative, which voters approved in 1998. Since it was created by voters to buy land for conservation, their approval is needed to redirect the money to other purposes.

First Things First

Proposition 302 is another budget-balancing measure referred to the ballot by lawmakers anxious to find more money for the state budget.

It proposes to take the $345 million balance in the First Things First account, which pays for early childhood health and education programs, and send it to the general fund to be used for health and human services for children. It also would direct the revenue from the 80-cent-a-pack tobacco tax that funds First Things First and send it to the general fund for those same purposes. The tax raises $60 million to $80 million a year.

Currently, the money is controlled by a citizen board; voter OK of Prop. 302 would give lawmakers that control.

Arizona voters created First Things First in 2006, making it a voter-protected initiative. Therefore, voter OK is needed to dismantle it.

State Trust land

Proposition 110 would allow state-land officials to sell or lease state trust land, or place restrictions on the use of state trust lands if the goal is to protect military installations, ranges, airspace or other military-related uses. These sales/leases would be allowed to happen without public notice or auction.

It also would allow state officials to exchange trust land for other public lands if the exchange would protect military installations from encroaching development or better manage and protect trust lands.

Failed initiatives

Representatives from the three campaigns that failed to qualify for the ballot said they would try again for to get their measures on the next general election. Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar, which fell about 34,000 short of qualifying their initiative, said they had begun pulling petition sheets to put similar initiatives on municipal ballots for November's election.

An effort to repeal Arizona's new immigration law and place a three-year moratorium on all immigration legislation fell about 50,000 signatures short of the 153,365 required.

Four referendums targeting Senate Bill 1070 or House Bill 2162, which makes changes to the Senate bill, have until July 28 to gather enough signatures.