BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Organizers throughout 5COUNTRY are utilizing the sunny weather, and outdoor events, to gather enough signatures for various petitions, in order to get the initiatives on the November ballot.
Organizers have until July 5 to get this done.
"Either the politicians are making the laws for us, or it's the people making the laws,” Rachel Sizemore, a grassroots organizer in Benton County, said. “But we don't get to make those laws unless these initiatives make it to the ballot in the fall.”
Sizemore, along with members of her group, spent the day in Bentonville gathering signatures for various ballot initiatives including the Arkansas Abortion Amendment, Arkansas Medical Marijuana Expansion Amendment, and the American Transparency Amendment.
She said she’s not attached with any of the specific initiatives trying to make it on the November Ballot. Instead, she said she was helping collect signatures for the initiatives to allow citizens the chance to vote on them in November.
“If you believe in voting, if you believe in the people's rule, then you shouldn't have any issues signing these, because they don't become law, they just get them on the ballot for us,” Sizemore said.
In Fort Smith, Attorney and member of Arkansas Citizens for Transparency Joey McCutchen said he was at the Steel Horse Rally on Friday trying to collect signatures for the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2024 and the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act of 2024.
McCutchen said the ballots are aimed toward protecting the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws in Arkansas. He said the ballot initiatives would allow citizens more access to government information.
"It protects our right to know,” McCutchen said. “It is so important that we hold the government accountable, that we are active in the process, and we know what's going on."
He added he is confident the initiatives will get the signatures needed in time.
"We have to get 90,000 signatures on the constitutional amendment and we have to get 70,000 on the people's act,” McCutchen said. "We feel very confident at this stage that we're going to get the amount of signatures and more because the people are really motivated here."
In a statement, Bill Paschall with the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Amendment, tells 5NEWS that he is “Confident the campaign will harvest the required number of signatures to make the November ballot.”
He adds his campaign has 400 paid and volunteer canvassers out collecting all over Arkansas.
But there is opposition to some of the proposed ballot initiatives.
In a March filing with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, the Stronger Arkansas Ballot Question Committee stated they’re working to disqualify or defeat the abortion rights, medical cannabis, and educational rights amendments.
Chris Caldwell, former campaign manager and senior advisor for Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is the chair of Stronger Arkansas.
5NEWS reached out to Stronger Arkansas for comment but has not yet heard back.
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