Looking back on the controversy and chicanery surrounding this year’s ballot initiatives in Arkansas, a few things are clear for groups who might want to make utilize of this power given to the people by our state constitution.
First, you’ll probably need at least two election cycles to get your idea before voters. Next, make sure your paperwork is pristine and follows all of the byzantine rules, even if they’re contradictory or unclear. Also, if the attorney general eventually approves your ballot language (likely to take weeks of negotiation) and the secretary of state certifies your petition signatures (that you’ve spent months collecting in the summer sun), don’t be surprised if the state Supreme Court steps in to render your work moot.
And even if your initiative passes, prepare for your opponents to push an initiative in a future election to undo what you did.
So, Regnat Populus (the people rule), with a considerable number of frustrating, infuriating hurdles.
Sponsors of six constitutional amendments got approval to collect signatures during the 2024 election cycle, on topics including abortion, medical marijuana, the Freedom of Information Act, sales taxes on feminine hygiene products, stopping a casino in Pope County that voters approved in 2018, guaranteeing universal pre-K and requiring private schools getting taxpayer subsidies to meet state standards.
To some extent, this burst of grassroots energy stemmed from frustration over state leaders’ actions — in banning abortion, passing school voucher legislation without accountability and trying to gut the FOIA — or inaction in refusing to repeal the “pink tax” on feminine hygiene products, as 25 other states have done.
But of these six amendments, only one — Issue 2, the casino amendment — made it to Election Day unscathed, sparking a proxy fight between two Oklahoma-based Native American tribes who spent $30 million blanketing the airwaves with relentless ad campaigns.
The final irony, in an initiative season chock full of them, was that voters in Pope County supported keeping their casino by voting against the amendment, but voters statewide approved the amendment that would kill it. Adding to the irony: After opponents of Issue 2 then sued in federal court, Attorney General Tim Griffin is, in November, defending an amendment that he fought to invalidate in October.
The abortion and medical marijuana amendments were signed by more than enough voters to qualify for the ballot. But the Supreme Court sided with Griffin and Secretary of State John Thurston in invalidating the abortion amendment over paperwork issues regarding signed certifications for paid canvassers and later decided that ballot language for the medical marijuana amendment, approved by Griffin, wasn’t sufficient after all.
The 4-3 majority blocking the abortion amendment included a justice appointed by Gov. Sarah Sanders, a fierce opponent of legal abortion. The 4-3 majority against the marijuana amendment included two transient justices she appointed to hear the case after two elected justices recused themselves.
The legal back-and-forth here stems from the patchwork of laws regulating the ballot initiative process, passed over the years by legislators who historically have been hostile to ceding their lawmaking powers to voters. With a bewildering array of requirements and multiple layers of approval, this process has become needlessly complicated and contradictory to the spirit behind the initiative process — to empower the people to check the will of elected officials.
In 1910, Arkansas voters passed Amendment 7, giving themselves the right to put constitutional amendments and statutes on the ballot for approval, as well as the ability to repeal laws passed by the Legislature. This measure was pushed by Gov. George Donaghey and populist politicians who wanted to curb the power of legislators; Williams Jennings Bryan even barnstormed the state in support, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Having an initiative process makes Arkansas unusual among Southern states; only Florida and Oklahoma also give citizens this right.
The original idea was that if a certain number of voters (a percentage of the number who voted for governor in the last election) signed a petition, an initiative could get on the ballot for all voters to decide. Donaghey and Bryan might perhaps be chagrined to discover, then, that voters in 2024 were prevented from deciding issues because of how paperwork was signed, or because judges stepped in to parse language that voters could have parsed themselves.
No one has claimed that fraud was committed by the sponsors of these amendments; enough legitimate registered voters signed each to qualify them for the ballot under Amendment 7. Yet voters were prevented from deciding either, which is the right the initiative process is designed to secure.
In recent years, legislators have also touted changes they’ve made to the initiative process — including a constitutionally dubious requirement to meet signature thresholds in at least 50 counties — as necessary to protect Arkansans from substantial money and out-of-state interests. Yet, ironically, Issue 2 and the medical marijuana amendment — backed by deep pockets and out-of-state players — got much further than citizen-led initiatives that relied on volunteers to collect signatures. And the lawyering became a cottage industry.
While opponents of legal abortion and expanding medical marijuana have succeeded in blocking these measures, their triumph may prove brief lived. Indeed, 2026 is likely to feel a bit like the movie “Groundhog Day,” as sponsors of all five of the amendments that didn’t make it to voters in 2024 are vowing to try again. (The education amendment and pink tax repeal sponsors have already resubmitted their ballot language.) And if opponents of Issue 2 don’t win in federal court, expect another big-money effort two years from now to restore the Pope County casino.
Sponsors should have some advantages in 2026. Their ballot language has already been approved, which should make getting approval from Griffin easier, and they can avoid the paperwork issues flagged by the Supreme Court. They will also start with a database of voters and grassroots anger over what happened this year.
Then again, legislators who opposed these ballot initiatives will be returning to the Capitol in January, with the opportunity to come up with up-to-date and innovative ways to muddy the purpose and intent of Amendment 7. Supporters of direct democracy should brace themselves for up-to-date trouble.
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
