3 days ago
Protect AR Rights ballot title to overturn recent ballot title laws rejected
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Protect AR Rights' first ballot title submission to the Arkansas attorney general was rejected on Monday.
The group has stated that the submission is intended to place before voters the chance to overturn ballot initiative laws passed during the most recent general assembly. Citing concerns about security, the legislature passed multiple laws tightening the requirements for ballot referendums to be accepted, including increased restrictions on signature gathering and referendum language.
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One of those laws requiring ballot titles to be at no more than an eighth-grade reading level was the primary reason Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected the Protect AR Rights submission.
'I must reject your popular name and ballot title because the ballot title does not comply with Act 602 of 2025,' Griffin wrote in his opinion. 'As explained above, Act 602 prohibits me from certifying ballot titles that are above an eighth-grade reading level under the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula. The ballot title you have submitted ranks at grade 11.5. Thus, your ballot title requires significant revisions before it complies with the Act.'
The attorney general also cited ambiguity in two parts of the ballot title's language.
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A statement from Protect AR Rights said the group expected its first submission to be rejected.
'We're not surprised by today's decision from the Attorney General because it's rare for a ballot measure to be approved on the first try,' the statement read.' This is simply the first step in a long process, and our coalition remains fully committed to protecting the rights of Arkansans to shape their own laws.'
The group also classified the reading requirement as being 'passed by politicians trying to limit access to the ballot' and a 'serious barrier to a fundamental right.'
Protect AR Rights has its policy position on its website.
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Griffin recently approved a ballot initiative with similar intent for the Arkansas League of Women Voters.
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