Elections – Family Council

Future of Ballot Measures Remains Uncertain as 2024 Election Milestone Arrives

Aug 22, 2024Jerry CoxElectionsAbortion, Abortion Amendment, Elections, Life, Marijuana, Marijuana Amendment, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

The future of three ballot proposals remains unclear as Arkansas reaches one of its milestones deadline ahead of the 2024 elections.

Thursday, August 22, is the deadline for the Secretary of State to certify ballot measures to the counties for inclusion on the ballot for the November 2024 General Election.

The certification lets each of Arkansas’ 75 counties know which initiatives will appear on the General Election Ballot.

However, three ballot proposals are still up in the air. Below is a brief summary of each measure and a little information about where the measure stands.

Measure #1: The Casino Amendment

Local Voters in Charge is backing a measure that would repeal the Racing Commission’s authority to issue a casino license without local voter approval in a countywide election. On July 5 the group submitted petition signatures to place the amendment on the ballot, and the Arkansas Secretary of State subsequently certified the measure for the ballot.

However, the measure has been challenged in court, and it is unclear if the Arkansas Supreme Court will let it remain on the ballot.

Measure #2: The Marijuana Amendment

Arkansans for Patient Access is promoting the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024. The measure rewrites much of the “medical” marijuana amendment that Arkansas enacted in 2016. The measure would let people use “medical” marijuana without suffering from a specific medical condition listed in state law.

The amendment would repeal state laws and regulations that protect children from marijuana marketing, and it would give free marijuana cards to immigrants and people from out of state who travel to Arkansas to use marijuana. It also fails to limit the amount of THC that marijuana products can contain.

Arkansans for Patient Access submitted petition signatures to place its marijuana amendment on the ballot last month. Placing an initiative on the ballot requires 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters.

On July 31 the Secretary of State determined the group did not have enough signatures to make the ballot, but had submitted enough to qualify for a 30-day extension to collect additional petition signatures.

The group is expected to submit additional petition signatures next week.

Measure #3: The Abortion Amendment

Arkansans for Limited Government is pushing to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot.

If passed, the measure would write abortion into the state constitution.

The Arkansas Abortion Amendment would prevent the State of Arkansas from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — which is more extreme than Roe v. Wade and would allow thousands of elective abortions on healthy women and unborn children every year.

The measure would automatically nullify all state laws that conflict with the amendment — jeopardizing basic abortion regulations like parental-consent and informed-consent requirements and paving the way for taxpayer-funded abortion in Arkansas.

The amendment does not contain any medical licensing or health and safety standards for abortion, and it does not require abortions to be performed by a physician or in a licensed medical facility.

The measure also contains various exceptions that would permit abortion up to birth in many cases.

Last month, Arkansans for Limited Government submitted petition signatures to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the ballot. Bringing the amendment up for a vote would require at least 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters.

However, Secretary of State John Thurston disqualified every petition filed to place the abortion measure on the ballot, because the sponsors failed to provide affidavits that state law requires concerning paid petition canvassers.

By law, ballot initiative sponsors must file a statement confirming that each paid canvasser was given a copy of the state’s initiative and referenda handbook as well as an explanation of relevant state laws before he or she solicited petition signatures. The sponsors backing the abortion measure failed to file this specific documentation when they submitted the petitions for the abortion amendment. That prompted the Secretary of State to reject all of the petitions.

Arkansans for Limited Government subsequently filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Thurston. The case is currently pending before the state supreme court.

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

Breaking It Down: Ballot Measures and Paid Canvassers

Aug 19, 2024Jerry CoxElectionsBallot Initiative, Elections

On Friday, Attorney General Tim Griffin released a video outlining state law regarding paid petition canvassers.

The law is at the center of a lawsuit over the Arkansas Abortion Amendment’s campaign that utilized paid petition canvassers.

Secretary of State Thurston rejected every petition in support of the abortion measure after determining the measure’s sponsors failed to comply with state law concerning paid petition canvassers.

You can watch the video from A.G. Griffin below.

Voting: Lesser of Two Evils vs. Lessening Evil: Guest Column

Aug 12, 2024John StonestreetElectionsElections

Both sides of the presidential race are (finally) set, and Americans remain historically dissatisfied with both options. Of course, considering the flurry of events of just the last few months, it’s not impossible that something may change yet again. Whether we fall into the category of being so sick of politics already or being unable to look away, every citizen has two choices. First, whether to vote and, second, how to vote.

After his White House days, Chuck Colson never publicly endorsed a political candidate. The Colson Center remains committed to that practice. He did, however, tell Christians to vote, and why. “It’s our duty as citizens of the kingdom of God,” Chuck wrote, citing St. Augustine, “to be the best citizens of the society we live in. To do that, we must vote.”

There are some Christians who disagree, and their hesitation is understandable. Since the Republican Party scrubbed pro-life and pro-family commitments from its platform, voters who prioritize life and family are left to choose between pro-abortion and pro-choice options. The Democratic nominee is the first sitting vice president to visit an abortion clinic, with a vice presidential choice who has aggressively pushed dangerous gender ideology in Minnesota schools. The Republican nominees have each stated that the choice to terminate preborn lives should be left to the states.

Even so, not voting in order to “keep our hands clean” is a form of pietism, not Christianity. James is clear that if there is good that we can do, we should. To not do the good we can is sin. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, even in the face of far worse political realities than ours, rejected pietism as being contrary to Christian responsibility. Because Christianity is an incarnational faith, he wrote, it must be lived in “the tempest of the living.”

But how then should we vote? Often, Christians and other citizens of conscience describe voting as choosing between “the lesser of two evils.” My former colleague Kevin Bywater suggests a better approach.

Christians, he said, should think of voting as a way of “lessening evil.” Not only does this approach better fit the political realities of our particular context, it recognizes the inherent limits of politics even while maintaining principle. Also, voting to lessen evil acknowledges the moral inadequacies of candidates while still seeking to accomplish good through voting.

In the American context, the “lesser of two evils” approach tends to exaggerate the importance of the oval office. “Salvation,” Chuck Colson often said, “will never arrive in Air Force One.” Neither, for that matter, will the apocalypse. On the issues that matter most (such as life and family), state and local races and ballot initiatives are incredibly important, especially now. Voting to lessen evil recognizes these cultural realities.  

Of course, the Office of President is important, but more so because of the 3,000-5,000 personnel—especially the unelected, rule-making department heads—that come with each administration. The heads of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education (ED), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been incredibly consequential in every recent administration, as are judicial nominations. For example, under President Obama, the HHS Secretary forced employers to provide contraceptives and abortifacients to employees free of charge and irrespective of religious beliefs. Without Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, or Coney Barrett there would be no Dobbs ruling. And since Dobbs, there have been all kinds of department-level maneuverings to advance abortion at the state and federal levels. Title IX regulations are interpreted and reinterpreted under each administration by unelected officials that are appointed by the president.  

A system that allows unelected officials to hold such power is flawed, as are the candidates who appoint, and the leaders appointed. Voting to lessen evil should never be about excusing bad character. It should be our best attempt to enable the best outcomes possible while recognizing that the most important work the Church will do won’t be political.

Years ago, Chuck Colson observed, “[T]he church has allowed itself to become dangerously polarized into two camps: politicized and privatized views of faith. [N]either view has anything to do with historic Christianity.” To address both these errors, the Colson Center has produced a free video series, Why Vote? Courageous Faith in an Election Year. For a free download, visit colsoncenter.org/why vote.

Christ, not politics, is our hope. He’s called us to engage, to discern, and to the best of our abilities, uphold good and lessen evil. 

If you’re a fan of Breakpoint, leave a review on your favorite podcast app. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 