From the Arkansas Advocate:
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas on Tuesday asked a judge to temporarily block enforcement of several new state laws regulating direct democracy that it argued are unconstitutional.
The nonpartisan group has proposed for the 2026 ballot a constitutional amendment aimed at preserving the state’s direct democracy process. The League officially began gathering petitions in mid-June, and argued in Tuesday’s court documents that the new laws hinder canvassing efforts.
Direct democracy allows Arkansans to propose new state laws or constitutional amendments and put them to a statewide vote. Arkansas is one of 24 states that permits this process, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The League filed its original lawsuit challenging the laws against Arkansas’ secretary of state in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in April. Little Rock attorney David Couch filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in the case Tuesday evening.
According to a brief in support of the motion, the deadline for the League to gather the requisite number of signatures is July 6, 2026, but “the Unconstitutional Acts, individually and collectively, so significantly impair Plaintiffs’ ability to gather signatures that the July 6 deadline will likely be impossible to meet.”
Proponents of the new state laws have said they help protect the integrity of the process.
The plaintiffs argued Tuesday that several of the laws challenged in the lawsuit violate the First Amendment, including three new ones that require canvassers to request a photo ID of potential signers, notify them petition fraud is a criminal offense and have them read the ballot title or have it read to them.
“These three new laws, individually and collectively, significantly restrict the canvassing process in Arkansas,” the brief states. “They were designed and enacted to interfere with Arkansas citizens’ right to petition by making the process of petitioning significantly more difficult if not outright impossible. They also violate the right to free speech, burdening an open discussion of political issues.”
Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm without an injunction, according to court documents.
“Their injuries cannot be compensated by damages — a lost vote is a lost vote and disqualified signature means that citizens of Arkansas have lost the opportunity to present political issues to the electorate — and there is no other way to restore this Constitutional right other than by enjoining the Unconstitutional Acts,” the brief states.
Protect AR Rights is another coalition pursuing its own direct democracy-related ballot measure. The group’s proposal has not yet been certified by Attorney General Tim Griffin, but the coalition has filed a motion to intervene in the League’s lawsuit challenging the new state laws.
Protect AR Rights is seeking to challenge additional laws not listed in the League’s lawsuit, including one that prohibits ballot titles from being written above an eighth-grade reading level. Griffin has cited this law twice in his rejection of the group’s proposal.
Spokesperson Bill Kopsky has previously told the Advocate that if the judge rejects the motion to intervene, the coalition would file its own lawsuit.
Members of both groups acknowledged earlier this month that their greatest chance of achieving their shared goal is by working together and said they plan to meet to discuss what that might look like.
