Arkansas Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit from Ballot Measure Campaign

On Wednesday, the Arkansas Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit from Protect AR Rights, the group backing the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment.

Protect AR Rights sued Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester earlier this month after his office announced the group failed to submit enough petition signatures to place the amendment on the November ballot. In his decision, the Secretary of State cited examples of “potential signature forgery” and other shortcomings on the measure’s petitions.

The lawsuit from Protect AR Rights called Secretary Jester’s signature count “unlawful and unsupported.” It asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to force Secretary Jester to begin verifying signatures and “order a preliminary certification” of the amendment while the group worked to correct any deficiencies with its petitions.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin defended Secretary Jester’s decision in the lawsuit over the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment. On Wednesday, the Arkansas Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, meaning the Secretary of State’s decision will stand.

The Arkansas Constitution lets canvassers circulate petitions to place measures on a general election ballot. Its original intent was to give citizens a way to function as a “legislative body.” But instead of giving everyday people a way to enact their own laws, special interests have hired people to circulate petitions to place misleading, deceptive, and poorly written measures on the ballot in Arkansas.

Last year, Arkansans testified in legislative committees about petition canvassers allegedly trying to provoke altercations and encouraging people to sign petitions multiple times.

In response, the Arkansas Legislature has passed several good laws intended to address petition fraud and other problems with the initiative process, but those laws have been tied up in court.

The Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment would have amended the Arkansas Constitution to keep the ballot initiative process wide open and prevent the legislature from enacting safeguards against petition fraud and other offenses.

Most of the ballot measure’s financial support appears to have come from out of state.

Ethics filings show the National Education Association in Washington, D.C., donated nearly $1.4 million to the campaign for the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment this year. The National Education Association is the largest teachers union in the United States.

Another $250,000 came from The Fairness Project in Washington, D.C. According to its website, the Fairness Project has opposed pro-life efforts in Missouri and supported a pro-abortion measure in Virginia.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.