By STEVE BRAWNER
When last Friday began, the Arkansas secretary of state’s office was prepared to count signatures for seven citizen-led ballot initiatives.
Instead, it will count for three.
One proposed constitutional amendment would revoke the license for the future Pope County casino and require local county voter approval for future casinos anywhere in the state. The other two would broaden the state’s medical marijuana law and legalize abortion in Arkansas.
That’s the order in which the groups delivered their petitions Friday. It’s also written in order of the number of signatures collected.
The anti-casino group, Local Voters in Charge, collected the most at 162,181. The local effort was aided by $2.45 million coming from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as of May 30. It operates eight casinos in that state, the closest an hour-and-a-half from where the Pope County casino might be located.
Arkansans for Patient Access, which backed the medical marijuana amendment, collected 111,402 signatures. It had support from the marijuana industry. Finally, Arkansans for Limited Government, which backed the Arkansas Abortion Amendment, submitted 101,525 signatures.
The three groups each needed 90,704 signatures from Arkansas voters to qualify for the November ballot. Now they all play the waiting game. The secretary of state’s office has hired 120 temporary employees to scour the petitions and ensure signatures are valid over the next 30 days.
If history holds true, a relatively high percentage of signatures will be declared invalid. Looking at the numbers, only the casino group may have cleared 90,704 so far. Any group that falls short at this point but reaches 75% of that number, which would be 68,028, will have a 30-day “cure period” to collect more.
Then come the inevitable lawsuits from opponents of those that qualify. The Arkansas Supreme Court will make the final call on which ones, if any, make the ballot.
Of the three, the abortion petition drew the biggest crowd Friday. It would legalize abortion in Arkansas, currently banned in almost all cases, during the first 18 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion also would be legal any time until birth in cases of rape, incest, a fatal fetal anomaly, or when the doctor determines the abortion is needed to protect the woman’s life or protect her from a physical disorder, illness or injury.
Sign-carrying supporters greeted petition bearers on the Capitol Rotunda’s first floor as well as on the second, where the petitions were filed.
Also waiting on the second floor were abortion opponents, many also carrying signs. Members of the two groups waited together, each hanging out with their own side but all in close proximity. They co-existed just fine. I saw a couple of discussions near the end, but they were civil.
Three other groups also collected signatures for four other initiatives but fell short of the required amounts.
One group, Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, had two initiatives. It sought to enshrine the state’s Freedom of Information Act into the Constitution with an amendment, and then flesh out the details through a related initiated act. That’s a law passed by voters rather than the Legislature. It’s not as permanent and foundational as a constitutional amendment. This year, initiated acts required 72,563 signatures.
The Freedom of Information Act guarantees citizens access to government documents and requires open government meetings. Arkansas’ is one of the nation’s most, if not the most, expansive such laws.
There were two other efforts. For AR Kids would have required private schools receiving local and state funds to comply with state academic and accreditation standards. It also would have required the state to provide various educational services. Those would have included universal access to early childhood, afterschool and summer programs, assistance for children whose family incomes were within 200% of the federal poverty line, and services for students with disabilities. With little financial backing, the group collected 69,968 signatures.
Finally, a proposed initiated act by the Arkansas Period Poverty Project would have ended the sales tax on diapers and feminine hygiene products. It collected 43,831 signatures, also with little financial backing.
All three groups vowed to try again. Arkansas Period Poverty Project has the easiest route. It can end the tax through the Legislature, which it has tried to do three times in the past. The others must wait until 2026.
Meanwhile, the three groups that submitted more than 90,704 signatures have a shorter wait – 30 days while those signatures are counted.
Then, for whichever ones survive and advance, it’s on to the Supreme Court and, maybe, the campaign.
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 17 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.