Federal lawsuit challenges Arkansas' restrictions on citizen-led ballot initiatives

Yahoo

22-04-2025

Canvassers collect petitions for proposed Arkansas ballot measures on July 3, 2024. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging that eight new laws governing direct democracy are unconstitutional.
Direct democracy is the process by which Arkansans can propose new laws or constitutional amendments and put them to a statewide vote. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Arkansas is one of 24 states to allow this process, which involves collecting a minimum amount of signatures on petitions for proposed ballot language.
The Republican supermajority in the Arkansas Legislature passed a slew of bills during the 2025 legislative session, which ended last week, placing new restrictions on the solicitation, collection and submission of signatures for citizen-led ballot initiatives. Democratic lawmakers and members of the public said the restrictions will have a chilling effect on the people's right to have a say in their own laws and Constitution.
The legal complaint lists the eight laws the plaintiffs consider violations of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right to freedom of speech and the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process under the law:
Act 153 clarifies that the certification of ballot titles for initiatives, referendums and constitutional amendments as well as the signatures collected for those measures would only be valid for the next general election.
Act 154 expands the attorney general's existing authority to reject a proposal if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes and prevents the sponsor of a measure from submitting more than one conflicting petition simultaneously.
Act 218 requires signature gatherers, known as canvassers, to inform potential signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense.
Act 240 requires canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers.
Act 241 requires canvassers to file a 'true affidavit' with the secretary of state, the executive branch office that oversees elections, certifying they complied with the Arkansas Constitution and state laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery and fraudulent practices in the procurement of petition signatures. Signatures submitted without the affidavit would not be counted.
Act 273 disqualifies signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures.
Act 274 requires potential signers to read a petition's ballot title or have it read to them; failure to ensure this would result in a misdemeanor charge against the canvasser.
Act 453 requires canvassers who are paid to collect signatures to be permanent residents of Arkansas. A sponsor of a ballot measure would be fined $2,500 per paid canvasser hired who does not meet this requirement.
The plaintiffs also ask the court to block defendant Secretary of State Cole Jester from enforcing four of the challenged laws — Acts 218, 240, 241 and 274 — due to the Arkansas Constitution's provision that ensures the right to direct democracy.
The complaint also asks the court to declare portions of existing ballot initiative law adopted since 2013 unconstitutional under the state and federal constitutions.
Supporters of the new laws said during the legislative session that they will protect the integrity of the ballot initiative process and discourage sloppy, misleading or illegal behavior by canvassers.
Instead, the laws 'weaponize bureaucracy to suppress citizen participation and violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by both the Arkansas and U.S. Constitutions,' said David Couch, the plaintiffs' lead attorney and a sponsor of multiple past direct democracy efforts, in Monday's news release from the League of Women Voters announcing the lawsuit.
The laws also 'will permanently dismantle the ballot initiative process in Arkansas' if they are not struck down in court, Couch said.
Six of the eight laws went into effect immediately upon Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' signature due to their emergency clauses. Acts 153 and 453 will go into effect in August, 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die in May.
Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, was the Senate sponsor of all eight laws being challenged. He announced in January that he will run next year for secretary of state; Jester cannot run for the position because he was appointed, not elected.
Named as plaintiffs in addition to the League of Women Voters of Arkansas are its President Bonnie Miller, its Benton County chapter President Danielle Quesnell, and Save AR Democracy, a ballot question committee seeking to collect signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment for next year's ballot.
'Let's be clear: these laws spell the death of direct democracy in Arkansas,' Miller said in the news release. 'For decades, Arkansans of all political persuasions have utilized the ballot initiative process to pass popular reforms in our state. Now, the legislature wants to kill the process.'
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas is a frequent participant in direct democracy efforts and 'cannot qualify a measure for the ballot without the use of paid canvassers,' according to the complaint.
'The statutes sought to be declared unconstitutional have and will substantially restrict the ability of LWVAR and its members to participate in the initiative and referendum process,' the complaint states.
Acts 218, 240 and 274 in particular 'impose significant barriers on sponsors' ability to recruit canvassers — who may not want to risk potential criminal penalties resulting from an inadvertent failure to comply with the acts' arduous and technical rules — and canvassers' ability to gather signatures,' according to the plaintiffs.
complaint from LWV
Couch has twice submitted ballot language on behalf of LWVAR and Save AR Democracy to amend the state Constitution's initiative and referendum processes. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected the effort for a second time last week, calling the ballot language misleading.
Griffin's office will represent Jester and is 'reviewing the lawsuit and stand[ing] ready to defend the state,' spokesperson Jeff LeMaster said.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas has been assigned to the case.
State lawmakers have previously sought voter approval for changes to the direct democracy process.
In 2020, roughly 56% of Arkansas voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that the Legislature referred to the ballot in 2019. It would have required canvassers to gather signatures from at least 45 counties, and it would have moved up several petition deadlines, among other things.
Then in 2022, roughly 59% of Arkansans voted down an amendment put forth by the Legislature in 2021 to require a 60% majority to pass most statewide ballot initiatives.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas publicly opposed the 2022 ballot measure. Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, introduced that measure and was the House sponsor of this year's Act 153 and Act 154.
In 2023, the Legislature passed and Sanders signed a law increasing the number of counties where ballot initiative supporters must gather signatures from 15 to 50. Couch and the League of Women Voters challenged this law in Pulaski County Circuit Court, where the case is still pending. Rep. Kendon Underwood, R-Cave Springs, was the House sponsor of this law and of five of the eight new laws being challenged.
Arkansas judge will allow amended complaint in challenge to new ballot petition law
The higher threshold for secretary of state approval did not stop reproductive rights advocates from collecting more than 102,000 signatures in 53 counties in an attempt to put a proposed limited right to abortion on the November 2024 ballot. Citizen-led constitutional amendments require 90,704 signatures.
The proposed abortion amendment did not end up on the ballot after then-Secretary of State John Thurston's office disqualified more than 14,000 signatures on a technicality and the state Supreme Court upheld this decision. Supporters of the amendment accused Thurston of abusing his power, while supporters of this year's fleet of bills from Hammer publicly alleged fraud and misconduct by canvassers for the abortion amendment.
After Thurston was elected state treasurer in November, Sanders appointed Jester to succeed him, and Jester took office Jan. 2. In February, he expressed support for Hammer's bills and claimed a 'top-to-bottom security review' of Arkansas' election procedures found 'thousands of fraudulent signatures' on petitions for ballot measures.
Hammer sponsored an additional bill that would have created an enforcement agency within the Secretary of State's office to investigate the validity of submitted ballot initiative documents. The bill died in a Senate committee after being voted down twice.
On Wednesday, the final day of the session, the House voted down a bill that would have placed a 500-word limit on ballot titles and given the Legislature the authority to overturn voter-approved constitutional amendments. Hammer supported the bill but was not one of its sponsors.
Hammer was among the 20 sponsors, including Ray and Underwood, of a new law not included in the League of Women Voters' lawsuit. Act 602 requires ballot titles to be at an eighth-grade reading level or lower.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE