One group has met a deadline to collect signatures for a statewide ballot amendment. On Friday, Protect AR Rights said they turned in 108,837 signatures from 62 counties for their proposed ballot amendment about ballot amendments.
If passed, the proposal would protect the direct democracy process in the state constitution, listing it as a fundamental right. As it stands now, any Arkansan can get a ballot title approved by the attorney general and collect tens of thousands of signatures for the initiative or amendment to go before voters. Then in November, voters can decide to approve the proposal or vote it down.
Over the past decade, state lawmakers have attempted to make the process more difficult by creating rules organizers think are too draconian. These rules include mandating ballot titles be written on or below an eighth-grade reading level, that titles be read aloud to signatories and changing the minimum county threshold from 15 to 50.
In February, a judge blocked the enforcement of the 50 county rule, and this week, a federal judge blocked other rules which canvassers say were too burdensome. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin plans to appeal the decision.
Protect AR Rights hopes their amendment will permanently prevent future legislative obstructions to the process.
“We have to really protect this process,” organizer Gennie Diaz told reporters.
Other ballot initiative groups have stalled at the signature stage. For example, the group For AR Kids announced Friday they would pivot away from attempts to pass their amendment which would have required private schools getting tax money to adhere to certain state standards.
Protect AR Rights says it took about 500 paid canvassers and around 400 volunteers to meet their numbers.
A spokesman for the Secretary of State's office says they hope to have an initial facial count done by Monday, with a full count finished over the next two weeks.
In 2024, an amendment to legalize abortion in Arkansas was tossed out after the signature stage for paperwork issues. Representatives from Protect AR Rights say the group worked with lawyers from the beginning of the project to prevent their signatures from being tossed in a similar way.
“We’re confident and we hope bureaucracy won't be weaponized against us,” Diaz said.
If Protect AR Rights gets 75% of their needed signatures approved, they still have an extra month to collect more signatures in what's called a "cure period."
