Arkansas activists file for ballot initiative
The Attorney General will consider amendment wording in what may become a more complicated battle
Arkansas activists filed a revised ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution should it be approved, get enough signatures, and then pass the simple majority threshold in the 2024 election.
Previously, Arkansans for Limited Government, the ballot question committee that advocates for the amendment's passage, had submitted the Arkansas Reproductive Healthcare Amendment. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sent back several revisions.
The group solicited feedback from both legal and medical experts to carefully consider the concerns Mr. Griffin outlined in his November 28th opinion. The new proposal is called the Arkansas Abortion Amendment.
There are currently no abortions being performed in the state except for situations in which a woman’s life is threatened following a trigger ban that went into effect after Roe fell. The law doesn’t make exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or in those complicated by fetal anomalies.
Gennie Diaz, the group's executive director, spoke about the effort today with Repro Rights Now. She said she didn’t expect anything tricky from her side or the opposition. She said that two other ballot initiatives that came to the attorney general’s office after theirs had also been rejected.
“It's a really common thing to have your first draft rejected,” Diaz said.
My guess is–if Ohio is any indication–that they will have some hurdles placed in their way by the antiabortion side. But in speaking with Diaz, I got the impression that if it was placed before voters, an abortion rights amendment could pass since it’s simply a majority vote. In Ohio, they tried to raise that passing threshold to 60 percent but failed to do so through a separate ballot initiative that voters turned down a few months before the successful November effort.
The AG in Ohio also worded the amendment in such a way that gave a misleading sense of what the ballot initiative would do. These are things to look out for.
They can appeal his decision to the state supreme court if they have too many issues with the Arkansas Attorney General. The court doesn’t have a deadline to get back to plaintiffs, though, once they hear an appeal.
“You become at the mercy of the Supreme Court of Arkansas,” Diaz said. “So, that is the process if the attorney general does not see fit to approve our language on the second or third iteration. So that is an option for us.”
The seven Arkansas Supreme Court justices are elected in statewide non-partisan races and serve staggered terms, so it is unlikely all court members would be replaced in one election. Currently, the Arkansas Chief Justice seat is open for election in 2024. The body recently went conservative with the appointment of Cody Hiland by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders following the passing of Justice Robin F. Wynne in late June.
They may have other hurdles as well. The Arkansas legislature recently passed a law that requires them to get a percentage of signatures from 50, instead of 15, counties based on the voter turnout from the last election. They would need to get roughly 90,000 valid signatures.
“We're in phase one. We're very early on in the process,” Diaz said. “But we anticipate the back and forth with the attorney general for a little while, which is why we filed when we did.”