A federal judge was asked Monday to strike down several restrictions on the Arkansas initiative process in a lawsuit that accused the state of violating voters’ constitutional rights.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas filed the lawsuit challenging four new laws on the initiative process as well as existing restrictions that the group says pose significant hurdles for citizens trying to put proposals on the ballot.
“These laws interfere, restrict, hamper, and impair the freedom of the people in circulating and procuring petitions,” the group said in the lawsuit. “The laws do not facilitate the operation of the initiative and referendum process.”
Arkansas is among several Republican-led states where lawmakers have been pushing for restrictions on the ballot initiative process. The new laws in Arkansas being challenged include requirements that someone read the text of a ballot initiative and show photo identification before signing a petition.
The groups are also challenging existing restrictions, including a ban on paying canvassers per signature collected and a requirement that canvassers be residents of the state.
Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office was reviewing the lawsuit and standing “ready to defend the state,” spokesperson Jeff LeMaster said. Secretary of State Cole Jester vowed to protect the measures, claiming the “petition system has been filled with fraud and bad actors for too long.
“These laws are basic, common-sense protections, and we look forward to fighting for them,” Jester said in a statement.
The lawsuit argues that the measures attempt to circumvent the protections for the initiative process that are enshrined in the state’s constitution. The complaint also notes that voters rejected proposed restrictions on the process that went before them in the 2020 and 2022 elections.
The restrictions come after abortion rights supporters were unable to get a proposal on the ballot in Arkansas last year after election officials rejected petitions submitted in favor of them. The state Supreme Court upheld the decision.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include Save AR Democracy, a group formed to try and propose a constitutional amendment that would add protections to the initiative process.
