Arkansas lawmakers spent more than three hours debating a slew of bills to add new requirements to the petition process in a committee meeting Tuesday.
Members of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee heard testimony on six bills, all sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton. All but one bill ended up gaining the committee’s approval.
Hammer explained one of the bills, Senate Bill 210, would require canvassers to read a summary of a measure’s ballot title to voters whose signatures they’re seeking to collect.
“The Secretary of State Elections Department, pro-life organizations, churches and members of the General Assembly have received numerous reports that citizens have been tricked into signing petitions they would never support,” he said. “They were given misleading information, such as calling the abortion amendment ‘an amendment to protect pregnant women or women’s health.’”
Little Rock Sen. Clarke Tucker, the committee’s lone Democrat, pointed out that current Arkansas law requires a copy of the amendment or ballot measure to be attached to the petition for voters to inspect. The attorney general must also approve the popular name and ballot title of a proposal before signature-gathering can begin.
Courtney Hood was one of several members of the public who spoke against the bills, saying they would make it harder for voters to sign petitions to refer initiatives to the ballot.
“If I have to now listen to someone read the entire petition to me, and I am a member of the deaf community, are we making sure that all canvassers are required to know [American Sign Language] or speak other languages?”
Hood also noted Hammer is running for secretary of state, whose office would be granted more power over the petition process under the bills.
Hammer, along with fellow lawmakers and members of the public, said the bills are necessary because of a spate of complaints regarding canvassers in the 2024 election cycle. Dawn Shell was one of several members of the public who spoke in favor of the bills, saying she was misled into supporting a proposal to legalize abortion in the state.
“My name is now permanently attached to something I do not believe in… had I understood what I was signing, I would not have signed my name to allow it to be put on the ballot for a vote.”
Attorney Jennifer Waymack Standerfer was wrongfully arrested while canvassing at a meeting of the Arkansas Bar Association in June 2024. She told committee members Hammer’s bills are likely unconstitutional.
“This is the same thing as when you go to a voter and say ‘please vote for me.’ And I don’t say that as a moral argument or a position; as a matter of law, the question ‘please sign my petition’ has the same protections as the question ‘please vote for me,’” she said.
When asked why the attorney general’s office issued an opinion saying the bills don’t conflict with the Constitution, Standerfer said the attorney general is obligated to defend legislation challenged in court.
“Of course he’s going to represent you, because that’s his job. That’s what he’s got to do. The Supreme Court does not work for him, and sometimes he’s wrong.”
Two of the bills passed by the committee Tuesday would require canvassers to request photo ID before obtaining a signature, and require them to disclose that petition fraud is a misdemeanor offense. Another, SB211, would require canvassers to submit an affidavit certifying that they’ve complied with state election law before collecting signatures, while SB209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers who are found to have violated election law by the secretary of state.
Hammer’s lone bill which did not win committee members’ approval Tuesday was Senate Bill 212, which would create a “Document Validity Division” of the Secretary of State’s Office. Lawmakers and members of the public took issue with the bill granting the secretary of state new law enforcement powers without requiring any new training for investigators. Republican Sens. Bryan King and John Payton joined Tucker in voting against it.
When asked, committee chair Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Bull Shoals, said “closer to 50” members of the public had signed up to speak on Hammer’s bills in Tuesday’s meeting. Committee members approved a motion by Payton to limit public comment after nearly three hours of debate.
Five of Hammer’s six bills now head to the full Senate for consideration, while SB212 can still be brought back before the committee for another vote.
