LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) — The Arkansas Supreme Court denied a rehearing for Issue 7 on Thursday (Nov. 3).
Arkansans for Compassionate Care filed the petition for the rehearing after Issue 7 was disqualified from the ballot last week.
The organization argued the Supreme Court’s decision violates both the Arkansas and U.S. Constitutions. The court disqualified the measure after deciding some of the signatures collected on Medical Cannabis Act petitions should be invalidated because the canvassers who collected them did not meet state guidelines.
In their petition, Arkansans for Compassionate Care argues the Supreme Court’s strict interpretation of a law the legislature passed in 2013 that requires measure sponsors to file certain information regarding paid canvassers infringes on the rights of the people to initiate laws unless they are well-financed to meet the unwise and unreasonable requirements of the law. The group states there are flaws in the law because the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, the intervenor and the special master appointed to the case all interpreted the law differently.
With the Supreme Court’s refusal to retry the measure, Issue 7 will be permanently disqualified from the ballot.
