The purpose of an Attorney General review and certification is to ensure that the popular name and ballot title honestly, intelligibly, and fairly set forth the purpose of the proposed amendment or act. Only after a ballot issue is certified can groups circulate petitions seeking voter signatures in support of putting the issue on the ballot.
Rejected Measures:
Oct. 23 - A second attempt at a proposed election spending law, "The Arkansas Political Spending and Conditional Limited Liability for Corporations Act," was rejected because of ambiguities in the text of the proposed law and deficiencies in the ballot title. The Attorney General's Office also found the proposal to be unconstitutional. "Your proposal is designed to penalize corporations for engaging in constitutionally-protected speech. Accordingly, it falls squarely within the unconstitutional conditions doctrine and is, therefore, clearly unconstitutional," Opinion 2013-138 states. The proposal was submitted by Paul Spencer, co-chair of Regnat Populus, of Little Rock. Oct. 25 - A third submission of "The Arkansas Marriage Amendment" by Jennifer Pierce of Little Rock was rejected because of confusion over what types of relationships would be legally recognized if the measure were to be approved. "The only attempt you have made to address this disconnect between your proposed ballot title and the text of your measure is to add a new provision to the text, and then include a verbatim copy of that language in the ballot title. That new provision states: "Arkansas law shall recognize all marriages validly entered into in another state." (Emphasis added.) But, as you can see from the foregoing, this leaves unaddressed the civil union provision (which pertains to unmarried persons)," Opinion No. 2013-130 stated. Oct. 29 - Another attempt at a proposed constitutional amendment, "Ban Prohibition of Cannabis," was rejected because of ambiguities in the ballot and text. Opinion No. 2013-131 stated, "The text of your measure is ambiguous in that it appears merely to assume, without ever declaring outright, that current laws prohibiting the sale of cannabis are repealed. You refer to a repeal of such laws in your ballot title but fail altogether to effect this repeal in your measure itself." Lieutenant Colonel Majorie LeClair of Shirley submitted the proposal. Nov. 18 - Lieutenant Colonel Majorie LeClair saw another rejection of "Ban Prohibition of Cannabis." "It is again apparent that your text is inadequate in that it fails in itself to effect any change in law. Rather, it merely announces what certain changes in the law "would" do, never actually declaring that approving the measure would in itself mandate or effect the described changes in law," Opinion No. 2013-140 stated. Certified Measures - Approved for signature gathering: Nov. 7 - A proposed amendment that would recognize marriage being between two people regardless of gender, and would repeal an existing amendment banning same sex marriage was approved. Opinion No. 2013-135 certified the measure submitted by Jack Weir III of Maumelle. Weir submitted the measure as "The Arkansas Marriage Amendment," although the Attorney General's office offered a "more correct name" of "The Arkansas Same-Sex Marriage Amendment." Oct. 3 - Arkansans for Compassionate Care's proposed ballot issue seeking to make the medical use and sale of marijuana legal was approved for signature gathering. Opinion No. 2013-118 certified "The Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act," which was submitted by Melissa Fults, Campaign Director for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, of Hensley. Sept. 19 - A proposed constitutional amendment seeking to repeal an existing amendment on same-sex marriage was certified. Opinion No. 2013-114 certified the measure "Repeal of the Arkansas Marriage Amendment." The proposal was submitted by Christina Harrison, founder of Arkansans for Equality, of Little Rock. Arkansans approved the original amendment in 2004 with 75 percent of the vote in favor. Sept. 16 - A proposed constitutional amendment to change the terms of county officials from two years to four years was certified. Opinion No. 2013-110 certified the ballot title, "Four Year Terms of Office For Elected County Officials, Justices of the Peace, and Constables." David Dinwiddie of Pine Bluff submitted the ballot issue. Aug. 6 - Arkansans for Responsible Medicine saw their proposed ballot issue seeking to make the medical use and sale of marijuana legal approved for signature gathering. Opinion No. 2013-081 said the popular name and ballot title for the "Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act" are "sufficient as proposed." The proposed ballot issue was submitted by David Couch, representing Arkansans for Responsible Medicine. Jan. 1 - In Opinion No. 2012-148, the Attorney General approved the popular name and ballot title submitted by the Regnat Populus ballot question committee. The committee submitted "The Campaign Finance and Lobbying Act of 2014." - Constitutional amendments require 78,133 valid signatures
- State statutes require 62,507 valid signatures
- The deadline to submit signatures is July 7, 2014
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