The Arkansas Supreme Court decided to uphold the state’s ruling to reject signature petitions for an abortion rights ballot initiative, preventing the proposal from being voted on in November. The decision was a disappointment for the organizers of the initiative, who had hoped to see the measure on the ballot in the predominantly Republican state where many leaders oppose abortion. The court’s ruling was based on the lack of proper documentation regarding the signature gatherers hired by Arkansans for Limited Government, the group behind the initiative.
The initiative aimed to amend the state constitution to allow abortion up to 20 weeks of gestation and in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or fetal nonviability. However, it did not establish a constitutional right to abortion and did not garner support from national abortion rights organizations like Planned Parenthood due to its restrictions.
The petition, which was submitted on the state’s July 5 deadline, contained over 101,000 signatures, surpassing the required threshold of 90,704 signatures from registered voters in at least 50 counties. However, election officials indicated that some signatures were collected by unverified paid canvassers, leading to the rejection of the petitions.
According to state law, campaigns are required to submit detailed statements identifying each paid canvasser and confirming that they were briefed on signature collection rules. While supporters of the initiative argued that they had followed the law by providing affidavits from paid canvassers acknowledging their understanding of the regulations, the state contended that the documentation was insufficient as it was not signed by a representative of the canvassing company and was not submitted alongside the petitions.
The initiative sought to address the changing landscape of abortion rights following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that shifted the regulation of abortion to individual states. Despite the setback, supporters of the initiative have expressed determination to continue their efforts to bring the issue of abortion rights to the forefront in Arkansas.
