A legislative ballot referral that would designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations gained strong support from voters as of election night. 

Proposition 317, the “Designate Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations and Require State DHS to Address Threats Measure,” had received 54.9% of the vote by about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, according to unofficial election results from the Secretary of State’s Office.

If that result holds, the Arizona Department of Homeland Security would be instructed to do “everything within its authority to address the threat posed by drug cartels.”

House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, attempted to pass an identical measure as a bill in the 2023 legislative session, but Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the measure and wrote in her veto letter that labeling drug cartels as terrorist organizations to deploy state resources is “not a real solution and is not a state function.”

The measure defines a drug cartel as an ongoing formal or informal association of people who individually or collectively engage in human smuggling, drug trafficking for profit, or other terrorist acts.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona argued Prop 317 could conflate low-level drug offenses committed by Arizona residents with organized crime under the definition of the bill. 

After House and Senate Republicans passed the measure during the 2025 legislative session, Montenegro told the Arizona Capitol Times that Republican lawmakers want to help support the Trump administration’s border enforcement actions and that the measure would give law enforcement more tools to arrest individuals who pose a danger to Arizonans.

The measure also mirrors a 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump that designates drug cartels as terrorist organizations.