Amendment groups join lawsuit against Arkansas Secretary of State

The casino license ballot item has already been certified and will appear on the November ballot. But, Local Voters in Charge (LVC), the group behind the amendment, said if this argument is upheld in court, their opponents could potentially knock their item off the ballot.

"The specific argument being put forward by AG Griffin as to who can sign these affidavits on the ballot question committee's behalf appears to be a new argument that goes completely counter to the interpretation of law that's been in place for many, many election cycles," Hans Siritz with the LVC said. "And it's not been called into question in any way until the abortion amendments lawsuit came into play a week or two ago."

On Friday, the State Supreme Court reviewed briefs from both AFLG and the Attorney General's Office. In its brief, AFLG argues there is evidence of viewpoint discrimination by Thurston because he accepted and certified sponsor affidavits and certifications signed by paid canvassers for every other petition.

"The additional information and additional briefing materials coming from casinos and marijuana supports the argument that we made on Friday that something seems a little bit off," AFLG representative Rebecca Bobrow. "There should be some remedy for what we see as our initiative being treated differently than these other two initiatives."

Arkansans for Patient Access (APA), the group behind the medical marijuana amendment, sent 5NEWS the following statement:

"The issue centers on whether the campaign sponsor must file paid canvasser registrations with the Secretary of State or may that duty be delegated to an agent of the campaign. Historically, the Secretary of State has accepted paid canvasser filings from an agent. The Secretary of State has allowed the submission by an agent for APA and LVC but denied those for those submitted by paid canvassers for AFLG. 

The Secretary of State granted APA a thirty-day cure period based on 77,000 plus verified signatures submitted on July 5th. However, on August 8th APA received a letter notifying that going forward the sponsor would have to submit paid canvasser registrations for those signatures collected by paid canvassers to count. The campaign is roughly 14,000 signatures shy of meeting the verified signature requirement. In the time period between July 5th and August 8th, paid canvassers have collected over 18,000 additional signatures.  

During that time frame, paid canvasser registrations were filed by the campaign agent. APA seeks clarification from the court to protect and validate those signatures that have been gathered post July 5th and to ensure those 77,000 already verified by the Secretary of State do not get invalidated.

When voters make the effort to sign petitions, we believe the bar should be high for government to disqualify those submitted. Whether a sponsor or agent of that sponsor files canvasser registration paperwork doesn't seem to meet the high bar test."

Siritz with LVC said this lawsuit is not about a specific issue.

"In the end, it's not about a specific issue," he said. "It's about following a process that's been established, being able to follow the rules that are set by the state, and being able to rely on those rules being interpreted a certain way."

To argue against LVC and APA, Griffin is using Arkansas state code 7-9-601 b(3):

"Upon submission of the sponsor’s list of paid canvassers to the Secretary of State, the sponsor shall certify to the Secretary of State that each paid canvasser in the sponsor’s employ has passed a criminal background check in accordance with this section."

He is using code 7-9-101 f(2) to argue against AFLG.

If signatures were obtained by paid canvassers, the person filing the petitions under this subsection shall also submit the following:

• (A) A statement identifying the paid canvassers by name; and
• (B)A statement signed by the sponsor indicating that the sponsor:
  • (i) Provided a copy of the most recent edition of the Secretary of State's initiatives and referenda handbook to each paid canvasser before the paid canvasser solicited signatures; and
  • (ii) Explained the requirements under Arkansas law for obtaining signatures on an initiative or referendum petition to each paid canvasser before the paid canvasser solicited signatures.

Griffin provided the following statement to 5NEWS: 

"As I have said from the start, the law clearly states what is required of ballot petition sponsors, and regarding the abortion ballot measure, the sponsor failed to document the training of paid canvassers. Allowing the marijuana and casino ballot petition sponsors to join this lawsuit confuses the issue: the statute in question in the abortion case deals with the training of paid canvassers while the statute in question regarding marijuana and the casino deals with background checks for paid canvassers, two separate issues."

The deadline for a proposed amendment to be certified for the November ballot is Aug. 22. AFLG said they are hopeful their amendment will be provisionally certified if the court rules in their favor. 

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