LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday night ordered the state to begin counting signatures submitted in favor of placing a abortion rights measure at the polls – but only those collected by volunteers for the proposal campaign.
The one-page order from the conservative-majority court left uncertainty about the future of the proposed ballot measure. The justices stopped short of deciding whether to allow a lawsuit challenging the state’s rejection of petitions to move the measure forward.
The court gave the state until 9 a.m. Monday to conduct an initial count of volunteer signatures.
Election officials on July 10 said Arkansans for Limited Government, the group behind the measure, did not properly submit documentation regarding the signature collectors it hired.
The group disputed this claim, stating that the documents presented were in compliance with the law and that more time should have been allowed to provide any additional documents required. Arkansans for Limited Government sued to dismiss, and the state asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit.
If they had all been verified, the more than 101,000 signatures, submitted by the state’s July 5 deadline, would have been enough to qualify for the ballot. The limit was 90,704 signatures from registered voters and a minimum of 50 counties.
“We are encouraged by this outcome, which honors the constitutional rights of Arkansans to participate in direct democracy, the voices of the 101,000 Arkansas voters who signed the petition, and the work of hundreds of volunteers across the state who dedicated themselves to this effort ,” the group said in a statement Tuesday night.
A spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office was reviewing the decision and would have further comment on Wednesday.
The state said removing signatures collected by paid canvassers would leave 87,382 volunteers — nearly 3,000 fewer than required.
Under the order, three judges on the court with a conservative majority would have ordered the state to count and verify the validity of all signatures submitted.
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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