Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed four bills into law, changing state and local initiative and referendum processes. The bills are Senate Bill 102, Senate Bill 207, House Bill 1221, and House Bill 1222.
Senate Bill 102 (SB 102) applies state initiative requirements to local initiative petitions. Changes include:
- requiring local initiative sponsors to obtain a current criminal history and criminal record from the Arkansas State Police for each paid signature gatherer and verify that the signature gatherer has no disqualifying offenses;
- add certain offenses that disqualify a person from being a local initiative signature gatherer—including assault, battery, intimidation, threatening, sexual offenses, trespassing, vandalism, and theft—in addition to the existing list of offenses for election law violations, fraud, forgery, and identity theft;
- requiring sponsors to submit a final list of names, addresses, and signature cards for each paid signature gatherer to the county clerk when filing petition signatures;
- banning paying signature gatherers based on the number of signatures gathered, a payment method called pay-per-signature; and
- requiring local initiative signature gatherers to be U.S. citizens and Arkansas residents.
SB 102 passed with support from 47.6% of Democrats and 99.1% of Republicans.
Senate Bill 207 (SB 207) requires canvassers to notify petition signers, either verbally or in writing, that petition fraud is a criminal offense. If a petitioner fails to provide the notification, they would be charged with falsifying materials related to initiative or referendum petitions, a Class A misdemeanor. Class A misdemeanors are punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and/or up to one year of jail time.
SB 207 passed with support from 85.0% of Republicans. All Democratic legislators opposed the bill.
State Rep. Kendon Underwood (R-16), who sponsored the legislation, said, “I think many people just don’t know that these are serious government documents, and this corrects that error. … [This bill would] protect the democratic process by helping to ensure that legitimate signatures are collected and reducing fraudulent activity that undermines the public trust.”
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… 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.”
House Bill 1221 (HB 1221) provides that signatures for an initiative or referendum petition expire on the date of the next general election following certification of the ballot language. The bill also provides that certified ballot language expires on the date of the next general election. Prior to the enactment of HB 1221, Arkansas was one of two states that had no law explicitly providing for the expiration of collected signatures. The change makes Arkansas one of six states with a maximum circulation period of two years. Of the 26 states that provide for statewide citizen-initiated ballot measures, signature collection periods range from 90 days to two years.
HB 1221 passed with support from 9.5% of Democrats and 85.3% of Republicans.
House Bill 1222 (HB 1222) allows the attorney general to reject proposed initiatives if the attorney general determines that the proposal conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal laws. Previously, proposals could be rejected if the attorney general determines the ballot language is misleading. HB 1222 also prohibits sponsors from submitting conflicting measures to the attorney general for review and certification targeting the same election. Conflicting measures is defined as measures that cover the same subject matter, are for the same general purpose, and that contain different language in the text, ballot title, or popular name. If an initiative or referendum proposal is certified, sponsors can submit a conflicting measure after the date of the next general election. If an initiative or referendum proposal is rejected, sponsors can submit a conflicting measure if the original filing was rejected.
HB 1222 passed with support from 85.3% of Republicans. All Democratic legislators opposed the bill.
State Sen. Ken Hammer (R-16), one of the legislative sponsors of the bills, said, “Each of these bills have been prepared working with the secretary of state’s office to assure that each bill safeguards the rights granted under the Constitution, while not infringing on the rights of citizens and their respective groups who want a safe, secure and integrity-driven process through which signatures can be gathered for an initiative.”
David Couch, an attorney who has worked on ballot measure campaigns and litigation surrounding initiative processes in Arkansas since 1994, said the bills “are just the latest attempts by the Arkansas General Assembly to restrict the use of the initiative and referendum process. These three acts are unconstitutional in that they are a restriction of the people’s right to free speech and violate the separation of powers doctrine.”
Arkansas has had a Republican trifecta since 2015, meaning the Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature. Currently, the state senate has six Democratic senators and 29 Republican senators. The general assembly has 19 Democratic representatives and 81 Republican representatives.
Four additional bills changing initiative requirements had passed one chamber of the state legislature and, if passed by the second chamber, would be enacted if signed by the governor. Those bills would require a photo ID to be presented to a canvasser prior to signing an initiative petition, allow the secretary of state to disqualify signatures collected by canvassers who violated certain laws, require canvassers to read the ballot language aloud to petition signers, and require canvassers to submit a sworn affidavit to the secretary of state in order to have signatures counted.
Between 2018 and 2024, Arkansas enacted five laws that added requirements for initiative and referendum campaigns. Two of these were constitutional amendments that required voter approval but were rejected by voters. The three that went into effect were SB 346, SB 614, and HB 1419.
In 2019, SB 346 was enacted, which changed the timeline for certifying ballot language until after signature submission and transferred the power to approve ballot language from the attorney general to the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners. The power was transferred back to the attorney general in 2023. In 2021, SB 614 was enacted, which banned pay-per-signature, required signature gatherers to be state residents and U.S. citizens, required background checks, and expanded the list of disqualifying offenses. In 2023, HB 1419 was enacted, which increased the signature distribution requirement from 15 counties to 50 (of 75) counties.
From 2018 to 2024, an average of 12 initiatives were filed per year in Arkansas, with an average of between one and two appearing on the ballot, a certification rate of 18%.
Additional reading: