LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Signatures collected by volunteers for an event in Arkansas abortion rights measure would fall short of the number needed to qualify for the ballot if those were the only ones counted, according to an initial tally by election officials filed Thursday with the state Supreme Court.
The request from the Secretary of State’s office comes after the court ordered officials start counting subscriptions sent, but only those collected by volunteers. Arkansans for Limited Government, who turned to volunteer and paid canvassers, sued the state for rejecting their petitions.
The Arkansas secretary of state’s office said it determined that 87,675 signatures were collected by volunteers, which itself would fall short of the threshold of 90,704 signatures from registered voters required to qualify. The lawsuit claims it was unable to determine whether another 912 signatures were collected by paid canvassers or volunteers.
Organizers submitted more than 101,000 signatures by the July 5 deadline in favor of the proposal to reduce Arkansas’ abortion ban. But state authorities rejected the petitions days later, saying the group did not properly submit documents relating to the paid colporteurs it used.
The justices are considering whether to allow the abortion rights campaign’s lawsuit challenging the rejection to move forward. It’s unclear what the justices’ next move will be, as they have not ruled on the state’s request to dismiss the abortion campaign’s lawsuit.
Arkansans for Limited Government said the initial count shows that if the total number of signatures from payers and canvassers are counted, the state can move forward with verifying the validity of the signatures.
“Our optimism remains alive but cautious as we wait for the Arkansas Supreme Court to issue further guidance,” the group said.
Attorney General Tim Griffin, however, said the count shows the process cannot move forward with the proposal.
“The Secretary of State complied with the Arkansas Supreme Court’s order, did so ahead of schedule, and confirmed that abortion advocates did not turn in enough qualified signatures to meet the legal limit for a cure period,” Griffin said.
The proposed amendment, if approved, would not make abortion a constitutional right, but is seen as a test of support for abortion rights in a predominantly Republican state. Currently, Arkansas prohibits abortion at any time during pregnancy unless the woman’s life is in danger due to a medical emergency.
The proposed amendment would prohibit laws that prohibit abortion in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and allow the procedure later in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if the fetus is unlikely to survive birth.
Arkansans for Limited Government and election officials disagreed over whether the petitions complied with a 2013 state law that requires campaigns to submit statements identifying each paid canvasser by name and confirming that the rules for collecting signatures were explained to them.
After the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling removing the national right to abortionthere has been an effort to get voters to decide the issue state by state.
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