A citizens group turned in more than 40,000 petition signatures Monday to try to get a ban on red-light cameras on the November ballot.
Tucson Traffic Justice needed at least 12,730 signatures for the ballot initiative to go to voters.
The number is double what the group submitted in 2013, when the effort failed because many of the signatures were from people who lived outside city limits.
The group collected about 53,000 signatures this time, but already culled out the out-of-towners, said coordinator John Kromko, a former state lawmaker.
The group collected signatures at five street fairs, 15 Second Saturday events, parades, sporting events, the swap meet, at City Court and more, said Lee Strubbe, volunteer coordinator.
The city has eight cameras that detect when a driver runs a red light. They are operated by a contractor, American Traffic Solutions. Citations are funneled through the Tucson Police Department for review. The ballot initiative would ban those cameras within city limits.
The city government shouldn’t contract with a private, for-profit company for a law enforcement task, Kromko said.
The ban is not about giving a pass to people who run red lights, he said. Most of the camera tickets are issued to people who are safely stopped in the intersection and waiting to make right or left turns, Kromko said. “These guys made this up to catch people,” he said.
Kromko received a ticket and paid $300 in fines and $100 for traffic school, he said.
The City Clerk’s staff worked on the initial processing of the ballots Monday. Next the County Recorder’s office must check a sample of the signatures to verify voter registration and residency requirements.
Last year voters in Sierra Vista approved a similar ban by a roughly 3-1 margin.
