The Joint Performance Review Committee of the Arkansas Legislature has requested an investigation into the ballot process regarding the casino permit in Pope County. In an interview with PBS’ Arkansas Week, Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R- Nashville, said the committee wants state and local law enforcement to investigate the matter.
Last year, Fair Play for Arkansas gathered signatures to get a ballot initiative in front of voters to ask them to stop a casino from being built in Pope County. The Cherokee Nation, which holds the permit for the casino, used canvass blockers to stop the canvassing efforts by Fair Play for Arkansas. Pilkington said the incident that drew the attention of the committee is an incident where canvasser's home was possibly burned down by a canvasser blocker.
“Because you have shady out-of-state individuals come into Arkansas and try and block this measure, wow and behold, a private investigator shows there was actually evidence arson occurred. There was an accelerant around the door of where the fire started,” he said. “Those things are extremely disturbing. When we think of democracy here in Arkansas that is like a third world banana republic kind of democracy.”
According to the Arkansas Advocate, the Pope County prosecutor and Arkansas State Police investigators said they didn’t see evidence that pointed to an intentionally set fire.
In addition to the alleged arson, lawmakers are wanting an investigation into an incident where a canvass blocker was caught on tape bribing a canvasser to throw away the petitions. Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock, said he wants to know the impact these actions by the canvass blockers had on the ballot process.
“It’s important to note if this altered the outcome. I think that's a fair question to ask. We throw out again this group [Fair Play] was gathering petitions. They were 2,000 signatures away from getting to the next milestone, which grants extra time to gather more signatures,” Wing said.
Pilkington said lawmakers will use this incident to figure out how the ballot process can be improved.
