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Arkansas ballot measure supporters solicit additional signatures as deadline nears • Arkansas Advocate

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Supporters of proposed ballot initiatives targeting abortion, education and government transparency are making a final push to collect signatures ahead of Friday’s deadline. 

Petitioners are gathering last-minute signatures at community Fourth of July events around the state and at a drive-though event at the Arkansas Capitol from 12 to 6 p.m. today.

Groups must submit 90,704 signatures for constitutional amendments and 72,563 signatures for initiated acts gathered from at least 50 counties to the Secretary of State’s office to qualify for the November ballot. 

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin approved the ballot titles of nine proposals. Secretary of State spokesman Chris Powell said they anticipate receiving seven, and the most they’ve dealt with in recent years is four.

In preparation for receiving thousands of petitions by 5 p.m. Friday, Powell said the secretary of state’s office is hiring 90 temporary workers to assist with signature verification and are setting up shop in the Capitol.

Sponsors will be given more time to submit additional signatures if the initial submission contains valid signatures from registered voters equal to at least 75% of the overall required number of signatures and 75% of the required number from at least 50 counties, Powell said. 

people signing petitions
Arkansans sign petitions in support of proposed ballot initiatives in Little Rock on July 2, 2024. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)

The 50-county threshold is a new requirement under Act 236 of 2023. Previously, signatures need only be collected from 15 of the state’s 75 counties. A lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court last year argues the requirement makes it harder for citizen-led petitions to qualify for the ballot. A judge heard arguments in the case in February, but has not yet issued a ruling.

Canvassers have reported additional challenges this year, including intimidation and threats of arrest. One lawyer was escorted out of an Arkansas Bar Association meeting in handcuffs after people signed her petition. Meanwhile, one group filed a lawsuit for the right to collect signatures at a public park.

Gathering enough valid signatures does not guarantee a spot on the ballot; measures must also survive legal challenges. Since 2014, seven of 13 citizen-led initiatives were struck from the ballot, according to the Arkansas Public Policy Center. Of the six that made it to the ballot, voters approved four — medical marijuana, casino gaming and increasing the minimum wage (twice approved).

Abortion access

The Arkansas Abortion Amendment would not allow government entities to “prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion services within 18 weeks of fertilization.” The proposal would also permit abortion services in cases of rape, incest, a fatal fetal anomaly or to “protect the pregnant female’s life or physical health,” and it would nullify any of the state’s existing “provisions of the Constitution, statutes and common law” that conflict with it.

Arkansans for Limited Government, the ballot question committee that proposed the amendment, announced via email Wednesday morning that it needed 5,800 more signatures. 

Northwest Arkansas residents who’ve signed petitions have expressed hope that it will end up on the ballot, said Destiny Sinclair, a Bentonville resident who has collected signatures for the past three months.

“​​People always ask me ‘How close are we? How many signatures?’” she said. “I just kind of give them a wink and tell them we need to collect as many signatures as we can.”

Arkansas OB-GYN says proposed abortion-rights amendment could revive standard of care

Abortion has been illegal in Arkansas, except to save the pregnant person’s life, since June 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

Canvassers said they’ve dealt with protests and harassment in public settings from abortion access opponents. Sinclair recalled a group of protesters one weekend at the Bentonville Farmers Market, a regular location for canvassing.

“They had these five-foot signs (with) the most graphic images on them, or quotes about incest or rape,” Sinclair said. “It’s so hard for people to see that.”

Anti-abortion groups Arkansas Right to Life and the Family Council have led a “Decline to Sign” campaign encouraging voters not to sign petitions for the amendment. In June, the Family Council posted on its website a list of 79 people paid by AFLG to collect signatures.

AFLG called the post attempted intimidation; the Family Council has since removed the list from the post but has kept it publicly available on its political action committee website. Acquiring and publishing the list is legal under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Additionally, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a resolution in June expressing disapproval of the abortion amendment. Members of the public called this interference in the direct democracy process.

Education standards

Organizers with For AR Kids, the group behind the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024, estimated Wednesday they still need about 25,000 more signatures. Spokesman Bill Kopsky said they’re “in striking distance,” but need a big turnout.

“It’s been done before, so we feel optimistic, but we do need folks to turn out and feel the urgency of the moment,” Kopsky said. “Our lawmakers have failed our kids for generations; we’re not giving Arkansas kids an opportunity to quality education. Our amendment changes that.” 

The proposed amendment, which aims to hold private schools that receive state funding to the same standards as public schools, stems from a new voucher program that provides taxpayer money for allowable educational expenses, such as private school tuition. 

Created through the LEARNS Act, critics say the Educational Freedom Account program is unfair because private schools receiving state funding don’t have to follow the same requirements as their public counterparts, such as admitting all students, providing transportation and administering certain standardized tests. The LEARNS Act does require private schools to administer state-approved annual exams to EFA students.

volunteers sorting through petitions
Ann Hudson, Carrie Clay and Marcia Norman sort through thousands of petitions inside the Arkansas Public Policy Panel’s Little Rock office on July 2, 2024. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)

In addition to equal standards, the proposed constitutional amendment would guarantee voluntary universal access to pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, after-school and summer programming, quality special education and assistance for children in families within 200% of the Federal Poverty Line ($62,400 for a family of four).

The measure is opposed by ballot question committees Arkansans for Students and Educators and Stronger Arkansas, both of which have close ties to the governor. In its June financial disclosure report, Arkansans for Students and Educators reported receiving $350,000 from two individuals and a total of $986,000 since its formation in April. Stronger Arkansas reported having $375,000 in cash on hand in mid-June.

Additionally, the measure is opposed by Family Council Action Committee 2024, which like Stronger Arkansas, also opposes proposed abortion and medical marijuana amendments.

For AR Kids reported a campaign treasury of $8,217 in June.

Government transparency 

The nonpartisan Arkansas Citizens for Transparency (ACT) has been gathering signatures for both a proposed constitutional amendment and a proposed set of changes to the state’s public records law, marketing the two measures as a package deal.

Collecting, counting and organizing signatures with the deadline fast approaching has been “bedlam,” said Nate Bell, a former state legislator and member of ACT’s ballot measure drafting committee.

“It’s somewhat organized chaos at this point, and ours is doubly complicated because we have two (measures),” he said.

Arkansas Press Association forms committee to support government transparency

The proposed amendment would make government transparency a constitutional right. It would also require two-thirds of both the House and Senate to approve changes to the government transparency law, which would then be sent to voters. In emergency situations, a law would go into effect with 90% approval from both chambers but still be subject to a statewide vote later.

A primary goal of the proposed changes to the Freedom of Information Act is to codify a definition of a “public meeting,” which has long frustrated elected officials and the news media, and broaden the legal definitions of a “governing body” and “communication” among members of government bodies.

The proposal would define a public meeting as “a meeting at which two (2) or more voting or nonvoting members of a governing body communicate for the purpose of exercising the responsibilities, authority, power, or duties delegated to the governing body on any matter on which official action will foreseeably be taken by the governing body.”

If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, the altered FOIA would also mandate that records concerning the planning or provision of security services to the governor and other state elected officials be considered public and accessible under the FOIA after three months.

ACT formed late last year after Sanders signed a law enacted during a special legislative session in September that shields certain state officials’ security records from public access. 

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Supporters of the measures were “not quite there” but “clawing our way” to the required number of signatures by Wednesday afternoon, said Arkansas Press Association executive director Ashley Wimberley, a member of the ACT drafting committee.

ACT designated about 70 local newspapers throughout the state as “petition hubs” to distribute and collect petitions, according to the organization’s website.

APA formed an additional ballot question committee, Arkansans for a Free Press, in early May to work alongside ACT to fundraise and solicit signatures for the two proposed measures.

APA’s Little Rock office will be open from 10 a.m. to midnight today to collect and notarize signatures, Wimberley said.

Medical marijuana 

Though he didn’t share specific figures, Bill Paschall with the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association said the proposal to expand medical marijuana access is “right on track” to meet its required 90,704 signatures.

Paschall said the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2024 aims to improve patient access, especially for those with lower incomes and people living in rural areas.

Arkansans voted to legalize cannabis for medical use in 2016, though the first products were not sold until 2019. Now five years in, medical marijuana has grown to be a billion-dollar industry in Arkansas.

Paschall said the ballot initiative stemmed from the public’s experience over the last few years and their concerns about difficulties obtaining and keeping a medical marijuana patient card. If the measure meets its requirements and is approved in November, patients would no longer have to pay an application fee to receive a card, and card expiration dates would increase from one year to three years.

This change would help Arkansans save money and “reduce hassle,” Paschall said.

Caitlin Tannehill Oxford collects signatures
Caitlin Tannehill Oxford collects signatures for several proposed measures during the Northwest Arkansas Pride festival in Fayetteville on June 29, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)

Physician assistants, nurse practitioners and pharmacists would be included as professionals who can certify patients for medical marijuana cards under the initiative, which Paschall said would break down a barrier for those in rural communities.

Health care providers would be able to conduct patient assessment via telemedicine, and providers would be permitted to qualify patients based on medical need, rather than the existing 18 qualifying conditions outlined by the state.

If approved, the ballot initiative would also allow patients and designated caregivers older than 21 to grow up to seven mature marijuana plants and seven young plants.

Paschall said the group garnered hundreds of canvassers over the signature collection period, and he estimated about 100 of those were still out collecting as the deadline looms.

Casino control

Local Voters in Charge is pursuing a ballot initiative to repeal authorization for a casino and casino gaming in Pope County and to require a local option vote for any future potential casino locations. 

Arkansas voters approved casino gaming in 2018, and the courts have twice voided the Pope County license. A lawsuit filed Tuesday challenges the newest license, which was awarded to Cherokee Nation Entertainment last week.

Local Voters in Charge spokesman Hans Stiritz said their amendment respects the rights of local communities.

Lawsuit again filed to challenge Arkansas’ final casino license

“I think that everyone agrees that local communities should have the final say on casinos in their hometown,” he said. “Our amendment fixes a situation that’s happened in Pope County …  it restores the final decision on casinos to local voters anywhere in the state that a casino might be proposed in the future.”

Though he said petition numbers wouldn’t be released until Friday, Stiritz said he’s confident in the work of canvassers and is hopeful “they’ll have a shot at getting on the ballot in the fall.”

Ballot question committee Investing in Arkansas opposes the proposed measure. In a press release issued after the group formed in May, vice chair Natalie Ghidotti said the proposal is antithetical to local choice because it goes against the will of Arkansas voters, and would be an economic loss. 

“This attempt to repeal the Pope County casino license is being driven by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which controls a competing casino just across the state line near Fort Smith,” Ghidotti said. “Their mission is to keep Arkansas tourism and tax dollars flowing across state lines and into their pockets.”

Local Voters in Charge has received $2.45 million from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, according to financial disclosure documents. Investing in Arkansas has received $775,000 from Cherokee Nation Businesses.  

Absentee voting

The Absentee Voting Amendment of 2024 would declare absentee voting is a privilege, not a right, and limit absentee voting to people who can prove their inability to vote in person. 

Specifically, the measure would establish a policy that allows absentee ballots to be distributed within 30 days of election day only to registered voters who are unable to be present at the polls on election day because they are absent from the county where they’re registered to vote, or are hospitalized, incarcerated or in a long-term care facility. 

Restore Election Integrity Arkansas, the ballot question committee supporting the measure, also proposed a separate measure to require Arkansas elections be conducted with hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots, but it was rejected by the attorney general. 

The Arkansas Supreme Court in May dismissed a lawsuit that asked the high court to independently certify the legal sufficiency of the measures’ ballot titles and popular names and order them placed on the ballot. 

Tampon tax

Led by the Arkansas Period Poverty Project, a ballot initiative to exempt feminine hygiene products and diapers from the state sales tax will likely come up short for its required minimum of 72,563 signatures.

If it does meet the requirements and is approved by voters in November, the amendment would exempt from sales tax children and adult diapers and feminine hygiene products, which it would define as “tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins, and other similar tangible personal property designed for feminine hygiene in connection with the human menstrual cycle.” 

Shannie Jackson, leader of the Arkansas Period Poverty Project and chair of the initiative’s ballot question committee, said having access to more affordable products means residents can continue to be contributing members of society without racking up bills by using products they shouldn’t be.

“We believe that this would be the first step,” Jackson said. “We believe that they should be free because they’re a medical necessity.

Let us know what you think…

Jackson said she’s hopeful for additional time to collect signatures and will not stop after Friday’s deadline. Beyond the ballot initiative she’s leading, Jackson also expressed support for the process of getting measures to the public for a vote.

“It doesn’t matter whether you agree or you don’t agree with my petition or any of the others,” Jackson said. “What we’re all so passionate about is the point that we should be able to help make decisions in Arkansas. …This is democracy, let the people vote on this, not let our officials decide things for us.”

Antique cars

An initiated act to lower the age requirement from 45 years to 25 years for antique vehicle tags will not make its signature goal by Friday, said Dave Dinwiddie, a Pine Bluff resident who led the proposal.

A lack of funding was a challenge for Dinwiddie who said he “didn’t realize how much money you need to bankroll a ballot initiative.”

Aside from $19 he donated to his own online fundraiser, Dinwiddie didn’t raise any money toward his efforts.

In total, Dinwiddie estimated that he collected fewer than 100 signatures of the required 72,563. He said he plans to raise money over the next few years and try again to lower the age requirement for antique tags in 2026. One positive from the experience is knowing that he now has an attorney general-approved initiative for his next attempt, Dinwiddie said.

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