On Thursday the Senate State Agencies Committee passed a good bill to help make ballot measure summaries easier for voters to read.
All ballot initiatives in Arkansas have a ballot title. The ballot title is supposed to accurately summarize the measure so voters can read it and decide if they want to vote for or against the measure.
Unfortunately, ballot titles are often misleading, confusing, and poorly written. But H.B. 1713 would fix that.
H.B. 1713 is a good bill by Rep. Ryan Rose (R — Van Buren) and Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) requiring ballot initiative titles to be written at or below an eighth grade reading level. This would help address deceptive or misleading ballot initiatives in Arkansas.
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed the bill two weeks ago. On Thursday, the Senate State Agencies Committee passed it as well.
Arkansas’ ballot initiative process has become the opposite of what it was intended to be, and if lawmakers do not act soon, the problem is simply going to get worse.
H.B. 1713 now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for a final vote.
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