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Lawmakers’ bid to limit power of the people is unconstitutional, new suit says [1]

['Griffin Coop']

Date: 2023-03-10

SEN. JIM DOTSON (File) Brian Chilson

Little Rock attorney David Couch has filed a lawsuit asking a Pulaski County court to declare unconstitutional a recently-passed bill that would make it harder for Arkansans to place an initiative on the ballot.

A veteran of the state petitioning process, Couch filed the lawsuit shortly after noon Friday in Pulaski County Circuit Court. He asked for declaratory and injunctive relief over Act 236 of 2023.

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Sponsored by Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R-Cave Springs), the measure increases from 15 to 50 the minimum number of counties from which signatures must be gathered for a ballot initiative to appear on the ballot.

The state constitution requires that signatures must come from at least 15 counties. Dotson and Underwood argued that the constitution merely sets the floor and that the legislature can set a higher number.

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Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forrest) and the League of Women Voters of Arkansas are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Secretary of State John Thurston.

King’s involvement on the suit is especially notable, as he won his current seat by beating former state Sen. Bob Ballinger in the 2022 Republican primary. A proponent of a stronger and more authoritative legislature at the expense of voter power, Ballinger unsuccessfully tried to roll back a minimum wage increase passed by a citizen-initiated ballot measure approved by Arkansas voters.



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Act 236 passed the House by vote of 79-12 last month, and passed the Senate 21-8 this week. The Senate passed an emergency clause for the measure with a vote of 24-7 this week. King voted ‘no’ on each of these votes.

In the last two general elections, Arkansas voters rejected legislatively-referred ballot measures that would have changed the ballot initiative process. In 2020, the voters rejected a measure to increase the county threshold to 45 and, last year, rejected a measure that would have required ballot initiatives to get at least 60% to pass.

“Their last two attempts failed miserably so now they’re trying a different tactic – they’re trying to amend our constitution through a bill which does not require a vote of the people, and this is clearly unconstitutional,” Arkansas League of Women Voters President Bonnie Miller said in a press release.

Dotson and Underwood argued in committee meetings that increasing the number of counties would force campaigns to reach out to rural areas and would show that the measure has widespread appeal before making the ballot.

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“This law was not passed in the best interest of Arkansans, and it will hamper the grassroots efforts of Arkansans to propose their own laws and to hold the General Assembly accountable,” King said in the press release.

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[1] Url: https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2023/03/10/lawmakers-bid-to-limit-power-of-the-people-is-unconstitutional-new-suit-says

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