The 2026 SRP election was a stress test. Same ballot, same voters, two different vote-counting rules. In the at-large seats counted per person, Clean Energy candidates won by roughly 2 to 1. In the at-large seats counted per acre, the corporate slate took both. The math is the only thing that flipped Pres and VP.
SRP itself published this on April 10. The Clean Energy slate won 2-of-2 per-person at-large seats by 2-to-1. The corporate slate won 2-of-2 per-acre at-large seats. Same ballot. Different math.
Acre-weighted races (Board)
| Race | Candidate | Acre-votes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Dobson, Christopher J. | 5,441.55 | WON |
| Kennedy, Sandra | 4,019.00 | ||
| Vice President | Paceley, Barry E. | 4,567.88 | WON |
| Clowes, Casey | 3,550.81 | ||
| Woods, Keith | 1,309.42 |
Per-person races (Council) - the system already does this
| Race | Candidate | Ballots | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| At-Large Seat #12 | O'Brien, Krista H. | 23,496 | WON |
| Kennedy, Rusty | 12,251 | ||
| At-Large Seat #14 | Mohr-Almeida, Kathy L. | 23,165 | WON |
| Cooper, Kelly | 12,581 |
SRP already runs both systems side by side At-large Council seats use one person, one vote and counted 35,747 ballots. The acre-weighted Pres/VP races counted under 9,500 acre-votes. The plumbing exists. Reform just means flipping the switch on Pres/VP and the District Board.
The system is biased twice over. The rules give big landowners more weight per ballot. And big landowners return ballots at far higher rates than ordinary homeowners. Both effects compound. Here is the actual return rate by acre-bucket from the 2026 election.
| Voter class | Voters | Returned | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10+ acre mega-holders | 73 | 38 | 52.1% |
| 5-10 acres | 119 | 51 | 42.9% |
| 2-5 acres | 853 | 214 | 25.1% |
| 1-2 acres | 4,179 | 907 | 21.7% |
| 0.5-1 acre | 10,134 | 1,889 | 18.6% |
| 0.25-0.5 acre | 38,212 | 4,655 | 12.2% |
| Under 0.25 acre (typical homeowners) | 612,595 | 36,156 | 5.9% |
Of the acre-vote weight returned in 2026, 47% came from the top 10% of returners. Just 4,391 people cast nearly half the weight that decided SRP's leadership. The top 1% - 439 people - cast 20%.
Both of these people voted in the same SRP election. Both pay SRP bills. The ballots are not equal.
Most SRP voters live on small lots. Across all 666,183 records, the average weight is about one-seventh of an acre-vote.
A single record in the SRP voter file carries 67.32 acre-votes on one parcel. That is 472 average voters stacked into one ballot.
Each of SRP's 10 districts elects one board seat. The largest has 2× the population of the smallest. A court would strike this down for any general government. Arizona treats SRP as a "special district" and lets it stand.
| District | Voters | Acre-votes | Population vs. smallest |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 3 | 42,862 | 5,131 | 1.00× (baseline) |
| District 4 | 51,447 | 6,726 | 1.20× |
| District 2 | 60,964 | 7,326 | 1.42× |
| District 7 | 63,740 | 7,519 | 1.49× |
| District 6 | 64,261 | 9,471 | 1.50× |
| District 5 | 67,650 | 12,124 | 1.58× |
| District 1 | 69,174 | 9,536 | 1.61× |
| District 10 | 71,805 | 11,740 | 1.68× |
| District 9 | 83,121 | 11,999 | 1.94× |
| District 8 | 91,159 | 13,515 | 2.13× |
If you rent in SRP territory, you pay SRP. You eat every rate hike. You live with every board decision about water and power. You still cannot vote. SRP's land-only franchise locks the majority of customers out of the elections that run their utility. That is the rule, working as designed.
In a one-person-one-vote system, 50% of voters control 50% of the vote. At SRP, the math is much worse.
4,992 people. The smallest fraction with veto-level power.
34,767 people. Enough to dictate the agenda.
146,647 people. Enough to win every acre-weighted race outright.
SRP wrote these rules in 1903, when Phoenix had 5,544 residents and SRP was a co-op of 200 farmers. They fit then. They do not fit now.
The SRP board can fix half of this on its own. The other half needs Arizona voters to act.
D8 has 91,159 voters. D3 has 42,862. Both elect one board seat. Redraw them to equal population. The SRP board has this authority today.
A 67-acre vote was rounding error in 1903. In 2026 it picks the board. Cap any single parcel at one vote.
Modeled on Arizona's AIRC. Take map-drawing out of incumbent hands. The SRP board can establish this by resolution.
SRP already uses one person, one vote for At-Large Council Seats #12 and #14. Those races counted 35,747 ballots in 2026. The President and VP races, still acre-weighted, counted under 9,500 acre-votes. Apply the same per-person rule to Pres/VP. Keep acreage on district board seats only, after equalization.
About 60% of SRP customers rent. They pay every bill. They get zero vote. End the property-only franchise. If you pay SRP, you vote SRP.
Arizona's "agricultural improvement district" statute was written for 200-farmer co-ops, not multi-billion-dollar utilities serving data centers and chip fabs. Update it for the century we actually live in.
Five thousand acres just picked the President of a $4 billion utility. Demand the SRP board redraw districts and cap per-parcel weight before the next cycle. Demand Arizona modernize the 1903 charter. Share this page. Tell your neighbors what they just lived through.