Arkansas’ secretary of state on Wednesday rejected a push for an abortion rights ballot measure that would guarantee access to the procedure for up to 18 weeks in the state.
On a letter to Arkansas for limited government – the group behind the effort – Secretary of State John Thurston said the group did not file required disclosures about paid signature gatherers.
The group announced last Friday that it had collected more than 100,000 signatures, exceeding the 90,704 needed to put the amendment to the state constitution to a vote.
The proposed measure would amend the Arkansas Constitution to explicitly prohibit the state government from being able to “prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion services” in any situation up to 18 weeks of pregnancy.
All abortions are currently prohibited in Arkansas except when necessary to save the patient’s life.
Thurston said the group did not provide a statement confirming that each canvasser received the proper documentation and a summary of state law before signature collection began.
“In contrast, other sponsors of initiative petitions have met this requirement. Therefore, I must reject your submission,” he wrote.
Arkansas for Limited Government said it emailed the statement more than a dozen times and asked for time to provide a hard copy to the office.
Thurston said 14,143 of the 101,525 signatures submitted were collected by paid canvassers, while the remaining 87,832 voluntary signatures fall more than 3,300 signatures below the minimum amount.
“Therefore, even if I could accept your submission, I would be forced to conclude that your petition is insufficient for not having obtained the required 90,704 signatures,” he wrote.
The group, in a statement Wednesday, said he was “alarmed and outraged” by Thurston’s letter. The group said it worked with the secretary of state’s office to ensure all rules and regulations were followed.
“Until today, we had no reason not to trust that the documentation they provided us was correct and complete,” the group said, adding: “Arkansas law does not authorize the Secretary of State to make an unfounded legal interpretation, which is what we did today by summarily declaring that we have not completed the steps toward disqualification.”
State constitutional amendments to protect access to abortion could be on the ballot in up to 11 states this year, including Colorado, Missouri and Florida. It has been confirmed that five states will put them to a vote and others are in various stages of advancing similar measures.
Arizona and Nebraska similarly announced earlier this month that they had collected enough signatures for measures ensuring abortion access to be on their state ballots.
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