KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate
From the Arkansas Advocate:
In a reversal, the Arkansas Senate allowed two proposed changes to the state’s citizen-led ballot measure process to advance to the House on Tuesday after failing to pass the bills’ emergency clauses earlier this month.
Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, is sponsoring a slew of legislation he has said would deter fraudulent behavior and protect the integrity of the signature collection process for proposed ballot measures.
Opponents of the bills have called them a threat to the public’s right to change laws and the state Constitution, which fewer than half of states allow, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Arkansas Senate advances two stalled bills that would change citizen-led ballot initiative process
Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate
Sen. Kim Hammer (left), R-Benton, and Sen. Jonathan Dismang (right), R-Searcy, listen to the votes on the emergency clauses of two bills Hammer is sponsoring that would change Arkansas’ ballot initiative petition process on the Senate floor on Tuesday, February 25, 2025.