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Teacher Labor Union Gives Nearly $1M to Arkansas Ballot Measure Campaign

On Monday, Arkansas Ethics Commission filings revealed an out-of-state group gave nearly $1 million to a campaign to place the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment on the November ballot.

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 amend the Arkansas Constitution to keep the ballot initiative process wide open and prevent the state legislature from enacting safeguards against petition fraud and other offenses.

Ethics filings show the National Education Association in Washington, D.C., donated $933,200 to the campaign for the amendment last month. The National Education Association is the largest teacher labor union in the United States.

The group backing the measure reportedly spent $500,000 hiring people to circulate petitions for the amendment. Family Council has obtained documents from the Secretary of State’s office showing the campaign has hired between 280 and 300 petition canvassers. They have until July 3 to collect the signatures necessary to place the amendment on the November ballot.

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

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