For $75, you can tell millions of registered Arizona voters what you think

Got an opinion on abortion?

Ranked-choice voting?

Border security?

For $75, you can share your thoughts with pretty much everyone registered to vote in Arizona.

That’s all it takes to get a 300-word argument in a ballot pamphlet that’s going to be mailed to about 4 million registered Arizona voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Arguments can be submitted beginning at noon Monday, May 20, through 11:59 p.m. June 20.

It’s all part of a long-standing state law that allows individuals, organizations and political committees to make their own pitch to voters about ballot issues. The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office then mails these out, one to each head of household with at least one registered voter.

The website will go live next week at ballotarguments.az.gov.

To participate, pick out the issues on which you would like to opine. Then follow the instructions, type in what you want to say, up to 300 words, fill out the rest of the form and, when prompted, make your $75 payment online with a credit card.

What you do with those 300 words is pretty much up to you.

The Secretary of State’s Office doesn’t edit for content. That means any typos you make will remain. So proofread carefully.

But officials said the office might seek legal advice before printing any argument with four-letter words not generally used in polite conversation.

Pretty much anything else, however, is in bounds, whether it actually relates to the ballot measure or not, although the formatting poses certain constraints. It won’t accept efforts to use bold or italics to make a point, though people are free to capitalize for emphasis.

Don’t worry about filling in the ballot number, such as “Proposition 100.’’ Leave a blank and that will be filled in by the office when it eventually assigns the numbers.

Only online submissions will be accepted. Forget about typing or printing up something at home and showing up at the Secretary of State’s Office, paper and $75 in hand.

If you have a lot to say — and money to burn — there’s no limit to the number of ballot arguments you can submit, either on one or multiple issues. Just submit those $75 fees.

There already are six measures, referred by the Legislature, that will be on the ballot.

Lawmakers are looking to add at least two more, one on border security and another on changes in election laws.

And several groups that are collecting signatures are expected to submit their petitions.

But just because a group has taken out petitions does not mean the initiative will appear on the ballot in November. They could find they didn’t get enough signatures by the July 3 deadline — two weeks after arguments are due. Or a court challenge could remove it.

In either case, if that happens and you already already submitted an argument on the issue, you’ll be out of luck. There are no refunds.

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On the other side of the equation, if lawmakers add measures to the ballot after the June 20 deadline, the Secretary of State’s Office will reopen the portal for new comments.

On the ballot so far

Measures already set for the 2024 ballot, referred by the Legislature, would:

— Require the state to pay a $250,000 death benefit to the families of first responders killed in the line of duty.

— Constitutionally mandate that each political party gets to put a candidate on the general election ballot (this is designed to override an initiative calling for ranked-choice voting).

— Impose new hurdles on those who seek to put initiatives on the ballot by requiring signatures to be collected from all 30 legislative districts.

— Limit the governor’s emergency declarations to no more than 30 days duration unless extended by the Legislature.

— Require mandatory life sentences for those convicted of child sex trafficking.

— Allow property owners to get a tax break when cities or counties do not abate nuisances such as homeless camps.

Still pending

The Legislature is still considering sending measures to the ballot that would:

— Enact new border security measures including making it a crime for someone not in this country legally to enter the county at a point other than a port of entry.

— Make various changes to voting laws including eliminating most forms of early voting.

Initiatives in the pipeline

Initiative petitions are due July 3 on measures that would:

— Increase the minimum wage an extra $1 an hour in 2025 and 2026 above inflation adjustments and eliminate current law that allows a lower wage for tipped employees.

— Institute a new method of listing the names of candidates on the general election ballot versus the current system, which is linked to which party’s gubernatorial candidate won in the county last time.

— Constitutionally guarantee a right to abortion, with no restrictions up to fetal viability, and with allowances for the procedure after that date.

— Set up a system of ranked-choice voting where all voters and all candidates run against each other in the primary election, with the top picks advancing to the general election regardless of party.

Note: There are other initiative petitions that were authorized. But the Secretary of State’s Office said it has not yet heard from those backers of any plans to submit them.