WASHINGTON – Presidential challenger John McCain said Sunday that he supports a proposed ballot initiative in his home state that would prohibit affirmative action policies from state and local governments. A decade ago, he called a similar effort “divisive.”

The reversal comes as McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, seeks to tailor his policies and rhetoric to independent-minded voters who will determine the outcome of the November election.

Both McCain and Democratic rival Barack Obama have accused each other of “flip-flopping,” a charge that carries weight with independents who seek consistency and authenticity in their political leaders.

McCain was asked specifically Sunday whether he supported an effort to get a referendum on the ballot in Arizona that would “do away with affirmative action.”

“Yes, I do,” said McCain in an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Republican senator quickly added that he had not seen the details of the proposal. “But I’ve always opposed quotas.”

Throughout the years, McCain has consistently voiced his opposition to hiring quotas based on race. He has supported affirmative action in limited cases. He voted to maintain a program that encourages the awarding of 10 percent of spending on highway construction to women and minorities.

In 1998, a resolution pending in the state legislature would ask Arizona voters to eliminate most preferences based on race, gender, color or ethnic origin. McCain warned against using ballot proposals to outlaw quotas or racial preferences.

“Rather than engage in divisive ballot initiatives, we must have a dialogue and cooperation and mutual efforts together to provide for every child in America to fulfill their expectations,” McCain said.

The 1998 story by the Associated Press said McCain was speaking to a handful of Hispanic leaders in Washington. In his comments, he stopped short of directly criticizing the resolution pending in Arizona.

A spokesman for the McCain campaign said in a statement that the senator has always opposed hiring quotas based on race.

“He believes that regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, the law should be equally applied,” the spokesman, Tucker Bounds, said. “He has long stood for the protection of civil rights and equal opportunity for all Americans.”

For the current effort in Arizona, supporters of the state constitutional amendment banning affirmative action programs have met the filing deadline to get the measure on the November ballot.

The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative filed 334,658 signatures with the Secretary of State’s office Thursday, surpassing the necessary number by more than 100,000. State officials are trying to verify that enough signatures are valid to get the initiative on the ballot.

The application for the referendum petition said the proposal would amend the state constitution to prohibit preferential treatment or discrimination by state government, state universities, school districts, counties and local governments to any individual based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin.