Late yesterday afternoon, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel rejected a very oddly-worded proposal to repeal Amendment 83, Arkansas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Typically, a proposed constitutional amendment consists of a popular name, ballot title, and the text of the amendment itself. The group sponsoring the measure, however, submitted a popular name, “summary,” and ballot title; they did not provide the text of their amendment.
This, among other things, caused Attorney General McDaniel to reject the proposal.
Right now there are two efforts underway to undo Arkansas’ democratically-adopted constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. One effort purposes to legalize same-sex marriage outright in 2016. The other–which the Attorney General rejected yesterday–seeks to repeal Arkansas’ Marriage Amendment in 2014.
In 2004, 75% of Arkansas voters voted to define marriage as the union of one man to one woman. Recent polling indicates an overwhelming majority of Arkansans still support that amendment.
