Panel approves amended mandate for Arkansas canvassers to warn petition signers of fraud crime

Yahoo

20-02-2025

Sen. Kim Hammer (left), R-Benton, and Rep. Kendon Underwood (right), R-Cave Springs, present an amended bill to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Senate Bill 207 would require canvassers for proposed ballot measures to disclose to signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
A bill that would require canvassers for ballot measures in Arkansas to disclose the criminality of petition fraud to potential signers passed a legislative committee Wednesday after being pulled down for amendments Monday.
Senate Bill 207 is one of a slew of proposed laws sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, and Rep. Kendon Underwood, R-Cave Springs, that would alter the citizen-led initiative petition process. Arkansas is one of 24 states that allows this process to change laws and the state Constitution, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Hammer and Underwood have said their proposed legislation would protect the integrity of the initiative petition process and deter fraudulent activity.
The section of Arkansas code governing initiatives and referenda designates petition fraud a Class A misdemeanor. House members pointed out Monday that the statute pertaining to fraud against the government designates petition fraud a Class D felony.
Underwood subsequently amended SB 207 to require canvassers to state that petition fraud is simply 'a criminal offense.' The House is expected to take up the amended bill Thursday.
Two people spoke against the bill Wednesday before the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs.
Existing state law includes a list of actions considered fraud on initiative or referendum petitions, but SB 207's mandated statement for canvassers does not include such specifics, said Christin Harper, policy director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
'The vast majority of Arkansans already know fraud is illegal and are entering the petition process not with nefarious intentions, but with a desire to participate civically in their communities and support issues they care about,' Harper said. 'A better way to prevent fraud is to enforce current laws and to train canvassers to ask voters if they have already signed.'
Brady Shiers, database administrator with the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, said the legislation would 'have a serious chilling effect, not only for signers but also for canvassers.'
The bill would make a canvasser's failure to disclose the criminality of petition fraud liable for a Class A misdemeanor charge. Shiers called this 'a gross overreaction.'
'If I'm a volunteer with a grassroots petition campaign and I now see that accidental failure to say a few words means I can not only ruin the campaign I believe in but also end up having serious legal consequences, I'd be scared to death to even sign up to be a canvasser,' he said.
House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, expressed similar concerns about a chilling effect on participation in direct democracy. Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, offered a different perspective.
'Every time I've ever gone to purchase a gun and I fill out the background check form, I'm asked a series of questions… It states very clearly on the form that if I respond to any of those questions in a way that I know is inaccurate, I'm committing a felony, but that has never had a chilling effect on my intent or ability to purchase a firearm,' Ray said.
The same House committee met for nearly six hours Monday and heard much public testimony, mostly in opposition, before passing two other bills related to ballot initiatives and sponsored by Hammer and Underwood.
Senate Bill 208 would require canvassers to request a photo ID from potential signers, and Senate Bill 211 would require canvassers to file a 'true affidavit' with the secretary of state 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.
Underwood amended both bills Tuesday, meaning the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs will have to pass them again. The change to SB 208 clarifies the type of photo ID the bill would require under existing state law, and the change to SB 211 would exempt signatures from disqualification due to the 'inability of a canvasser to submit an affidavit due to death or medical disability.'
Members of the public could not comment on SB 207 during Monday's meeting after it was pulled from the agenda. Committee members acknowledged that inclement weather likely prevented more speakers besides Shiers and Harper from testifying at Wednesday's meeting.
The committee considered waiting to vote on SB 207 until the next meeting Feb. 24 in order to allow more people to testify then, but a motion to do so failed despite bipartisan support.
The bill passed on a roll call vote with nine Republicans voting for it, including Ray. Five committee members voted against it: Republican Reps. Julie Mayberry of Hensley, Mark McElroy of Tillar and Jeremy Wooldridge of Marmaduke; and Collins and his fellow Little Rock Democratic Rep. Denise Ennett.
If the amended SB 207, SB 208 and SB 211 pass the House, they will return to the Senate, which they passed last week with at least 24 votes each. The bills' emergency clauses require a minimum of 24 votes, two-thirds of the Senate, and would allow them to go into effect immediately upon the governor's signature.
Hammer and Underwood are sponsoring two more initiative petition bills that received 22 Senate votes each, meaning the bills passed but their emergency clauses failed.
Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures. Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser.
Hammer said Tuesday that he will bring the two emergency clauses back to the Senate floor Monday. Six senators were absent from the chamber Wednesday due to inclement weather.
Arkansas' elections are overseen by the secretary of state, a position Hammer is seeking in 2026. Another bill he sponsored, Senate Bill 212, would have created a law enforcement agency within the secretary of state's office that could investigate the validity of submitted documents related to elections and ballot initiatives. The bill failed in committee last week.
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Hammer is also the Senate sponsor of two bills introduced by Ray that are currently on the governor's desk: House Bill 1221 and House Bill 1222.
HB 1221 clarifies that the certification of ballot titles for initiatives, referenda and constitutional amendments as well as the signatures collected for those measures would only be valid for the next general election.
HB 1222 expands the attorney general's existing authority to reject a proposal if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. It would also prevent a sponsor from submitting more than one conflicting petition at the same time.