This story has been updated to include comment from Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester.
A lawsuit has been filed challenging new restrictions on Arkansas’ direct democracy process.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas filed suit Monday seeking to block a slate of new laws putting restrictions on the petition process. The lawsuit comes less than a week after the informal adjournment of the 2025 General Session of the Arkansas Legislature.
“For decades, Arkansans of all political persuasions have utilized the ballot initiative process to pass popular reforms in our state. Now, the legislature wants to kill the process. It’s not only anti-voter but is also completely illegal,” Bonnie Miller, president of the League of Women Voters of Arkansas, said in a statement. “We urge the court to strike down these laws and reaffirm Arkansans’ right to direct democracy.”
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, seeks to block five new laws passed by legislators in the 2025 session:
-Act 274, which requires voters to read a petition’s ballot title in the presence of a canvasser before signing, or the canvasser to read the ballot title out loud to potential signers
-Act 240, which requires a canvasser to view photo identification of potential signers
-Act 218, which requires canvassers to disclose to potential signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense
-Act 453, which requires paid canvassers to have a permanent residence in Arkansas
-Act 241, which requires a canvasser to file an affidavit attesting that they have not broken any laws relating to the petition process
The suit alleges the new laws violate the U.S. Constitution – specifically the First Amendment, which ensures free speech, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits laws that infringe on the rights of citizens. It also cites Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution, which outlines the state’s direct democracy process.
“These laws interfere, restrict, hamper, and impair the freedom of the people in circulating and procuring petitions. The laws do not facilitate the operation of the initiative and referendum process,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit names Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester as a defendant. Little Rock attorney David Couch, a longtime advocate for direct democracy, is named as an attorney for the plaintiffs, along with Chicago law firm Steptoe LLP. Save AR Democracy, a ballot question committee seeking to place an amendment limiting the state’s influence on the direct democracy process on the ballot, is also named as a plaintiff.
“From day one, I have promised to protect Arkansas’s electoral processes. The petition system has been filled with fraud and bad actors for too long. These laws are basic, commonsense protections, and we look forward to fighting for them,” Secretary of State Cole Jester said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, who represents the state in challenges to laws, told Little Rock Public Radio, “we are reviewing the lawsuit and stand ready to defend the State.”
