Arkansas lawmakers refer hand-count ballot petitioners to ethics committee

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

A failed petition to ban voting machines in Saline County has been referred to an ethics committee after issues were found with the way signatures for the petition were collected. Members of the Arkansas Legislature made the decision Monday at a Joint Performance Review Committee Meeting.

To put a local ordinance on the ballot in Saline County, in this election cycle, you need 5,590 validated signatures. A group called Restore Election Integrity Arkansas says they collected thousands of signatures from locals to put their measure on the ballot.

The ballot measure would have mandated votes in the county be made without a machine and counted by hand. Restore Election Integrity Arkansas is led in part by Col. Conrad Reynolds, who told Little Rock Public Radio before that he does not trust voting machines.

Arkansas lawmakers refer hand-count ballot petitioners to ethics committee

Voting Machine - Flickr Image

Attorney General Griffin praises Arkansas Supreme Court's rejection of motion brought by convicted felon of Little Rock

Griffin offered the following statement:

“Convicted felon Oscar Stilley’s emergency motion sought to resurrect the abortion amendment ballot petition by compelling the Secretary of State to provisionally certify it for the November general election. I applaud the Arkansas Supreme Court’s decision to deny Stilley’s motion as moot after the court had correctly denied the attempt by the sponsor of the abortion amendment to get on the ballot.

“Stilley has no legal standing to bring this lawsuit in the first place. In fact, his filings have made it clear that he cares more about re-litigating his federal felony conviction. This attempt to retry his conviction has done nothing but waste the court’s time and taxpayers’ money.”

To read a copy of the court’s rejection of the motion, click here.

To download a PDF version of this release, click here.

Recreational marijuana petition finds widespread support, tests new signature collection process

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Under new laws passed by the Arkansas Legislature in recent years, many political observers expected greater difficulty in collecting ballot petition signatures.

But Responsible Growth Arkansas collected more than 193,000 signatures for its adult recreational marijuana initiative – more than twice what was needed to qualify. The Secretary of State’s office is reviewing the signatures and, if approved, the ballot title will be considered by the State Board of Election Commissioners under a new state law.

Of the $3.2 million raised by Responsible Growth Arkansas as of its June 30, 2022 financial disclosure report, approximately $2.3 million has been spent on the signature collection process. Verified Arkansas, LLC of Little Rock and Advanced Micro Targeting, Inc. of Dallas are the two beneficiaries of that spending.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/07/recreational-marijuana-petition-finds-widespread-support-tests-new-signature-collection-process/

Arkansas Governor Says Reconsideration Of Mask Ban In Schools Would Have To Come From Legislature

By CHRISTINE JONES

Gov. Asa Hutchinson says it will be up to the Arkansas General Assembly to decide whether to repeal a facemask ban in schools. It comes as parents are fearing for the safety of their children with the new academic year starting in a few weeks.

In response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases, one mother began a petition campaign on social media. “Tell the Republicans to Allow Schools to Protect Kids by Mandating Masks” was started last Tuesday and has already garnered more than 1,400 signatures.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/arkansas-governor-says-reconsideration-mask-ban-schools-would-have-come-legislature