Salt River Project has the oddest election rules in the entire country.

If your property sits on votable land, you can vote for SRP’s Board, Council, and president. Only property owners can vote, and votes are weighted by how much land you own.

SRP elections happen every two years, and 95% of people do not vote. If you qualify, make your voice heard.

The Bottom Line: You have the power to be heard by your utility company. With so few people voting, your chance to make a difference is even greater.

Even if you don’t get SRP power or water, you may have a right to vote!

SRP voting rights are a function of where your home or farm is located. If it sits in what is called “votable lands”, then you probably have a right to vote. Check out this link to see the entire map of the votable lands. You can search your address to see if you have voting rights.

Fun fact: Over 100 years ago the Valley of the Sun was mostly farmland. Farmers at the time put up their land as collateral to get federal loans to build infrastructure, like Roosevelt Dam and all the canals in the valley. The voting rights that they built in to their new agricultural improvement district have conveyed through time to the home or farm that you own now.

The Bottom Line: You might be able to vote in SRP elections even if you do not get SRP power or water. Check to see if your property sits in “votable land” at this link. Then register to vote at this link.

Only property owners can vote.

This is where it gets strange. Because of the origin of SRP, only property owners can vote. This includes trusts, but not businesses or churches.

Not-so fun fact: This means that a little over half of the 1.1 million SRP customers who rent, or who live in areas outside of the original “votable lands” have no representation on the board. Even folks in Fountain Hills or Apache Junction who get SRP power and who own their homes don’t have voting rights because their homes don’t sit on “votable lands.”  Also, the Arizona Corporation Commission does not regulate most of what SRP does.

SRP has a quirky board and council system.

SRP really is two entities: the “Association”, which manages the delivery of water and “The District” which delivers electricity.

Each of those entities has a nearly-identical structure consisting of a Board and a Council, as well as a president. There is one Board member for each of the 10 districts across SRP votable lands and three Council members for each district.

Plus, on the District side of SRP (electricity delivery), there are four at-large board members. The at-large members can run for any district. The president is also elected at-large.

Seriously, people: You couldn’t create a more confusing decision making body if you tried. No wonder fewer than 5% of eligible voters participate in elections!

The Bottom Line: You can only vote for the Board or Council members in your district. But you can also vote for the at-large members and the president.

Districts, at-large and when you can vote

Not strange enough? There’s more! Check this out.

SRP has elections every two years. In the April 2026 election we will choose Board and Council members for the even-numbered districts, plus president and two of the four at-large Board seats. In April 2028 the odd districts and the two other at-large seats are up for election.

When you get your ballot, you will actually see two ballots with mostly the same names on each ballot. That is because one ballot is for the Association (water) and the other is for the District (electricity) sides of SRP.

Bottom Line. If you live in an odd-numbered district, please still vote. You can vote for at-large candidates and the president. These seats are contested in April!

What is acre voting?

As if it couldn’t get any less representative! Because of SRP’s unique history, votes are weighted by how much land you own. The average home in The Valley of the Sun sits on 1/6th of an acre. So, you get 1/6th of a vote. If two people own a property, they each get 1/12th of a vote. So be sure all owners of your property vote!

Similarly, if you own a 40-acre farm, you get 40 votes. If you own a bunch of rental properties in your name or a trust (not an LLC), you can vote for all of them —even if they are in different SRP districts!

Isn’t history fun? Sounds like a violation of one-person, one-vote? Some folks in the 1970s thought so and it resulted in a US Supreme Court case in 1981 called Ball v. James in which the Supreme Court held that it is not a violation of one-person, one-vote because SRP was created by a bunch of private landholder putting their land up for collateral to create this entity. However, the Arizona Legislature can make changes to this voting system for the electric (“District”) side of SRP. Just sayin’.

However —and there’s always a however with this thing— the at-large seats and the president are chosen by one property owner, one vote. So, if two people own one property, they each get a vote. Remember that!

The Bottom Line. Register to vote! Sign up for my newsletter and follow along. As we get closer to voting, I’ll share information on what to expect, and how to make sure your vote counts.

Click this link to register to vote. If your house or farm is in a trust, you can vote on behalf of the trust. If you share ownership of the property, be sure to confirm how each owner can vote.

You should get confirmation from SRP that you are on their voter registration list. If you have questions, call (602) 236-3048 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., or email election@srpnet.com.

Super-duper Important: You must register on a separate voting list from what you are used to with other elections. But it is a permanent voting list. Once you are on, you don’t come off unless you sell your property, or shuffle off this mortal coil.

While election day is April 7th, 2026, you can start voting by mail one month earlier, in March. Most people vote by mail, but you can carry your ballot in to SRP HQ if you have an extra couple hours to kill.

District 6 is my jam.

SRP District 6, or SRP6 as I call it, is most of Central Phoenix. Have a look at this map.

See the grey area? That is votable land. The yellow area was not farm land about 100 years ago when all the farmers got their loan from the federal government. So, that area does not have voting rights.

But isn’t it interesting when you realize that the yellow are was basically the boundaries of the little town of Phoenix back in those days?

Thank you for reading this far.

If you’ve made it this far. Congratulations! You get a gold star of the refrigerator of life for your willingness to participate.

I know, with all these rules, it feels more like landed aristocracy than small-d democracy. Despite how odd this system is, you have an opportunity to make huge change.

Especially you APS customers with voting rights.

Why? How? Well, I’ve noticed over the years that when one utility marches in one direction, the others get pressure to do the same -for good or for ill. So, if we can support policies that reduce costs, clean the air, save water and generally increase your energy freedom, we can show the way to the other utilities.

And that just feels good, doesn’t it?

Please become a charter supporter of my campaign with a contribution at this link.

Thank you!!