On Monday the Arkansas House State Agencies Committee advanced two good bills strengthening Arkansas’ laws concerning ballot initiatives.
S.B. 208 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R — Cave Springs) requires petition canvassers to verify a person’s identity via photo ID before obtaining the person’s signature on a petition. This helps prevent people from fraudulently signing someone else’s name on a petition.
S.B. 211 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R — Cave Springs) requires petition canvassers to file an affidavit with the Secretary of State verifying that the canvasser complied with the Arkansas Constitution and all Arkansas laws concerning canvassing, perjury, forgery, and fraud in the process of gathering signatures.
Both bills have already passed the Arkansas Senate. They now go to the entire Arkansas House of Representatives for a final vote.
As we have said many times, Arkansas’ ballot initiative process has become the opposite of what it was intended to be. Its original intent was to give citizens a way to enact laws and amendments on their own. But today, powerful special interests are able to exploit the ballot initiative process for personal gain.
Pro-life leaders have provided committee testimony alleging that canvassers for the 2024 Arkansas Abortion Amendment violated state law and were paid $500 bonuses for “altercations” with pro-lifers who opposed the abortion amendment.
If the Arkansas Legislature does not enact good laws that bring accountability and transparency to the ballot initiation process, these problems will simply continue to get worse.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
