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Jimmy Williams
In a closely divided 4-3 ruling, the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday effectively blocked an amendment aimed at legalizing abortion from appearing on the state’s November ballot.
The court ruled that signatures collected by paid canvassers, which made up a portion of the petition drive by Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG), cannot be counted due to non-compliance with state law.
AFLG had gathered over 100,000 signatures to place the amendment on the ballot, exceeding the 90,074 signatures required by state law. However, the group relied on paid canvassers for approximately 14,000 of those signatures. Only 87,675 were gathered by volunteers, leaving the petition short when paid canvasser signatures were ruled invalid.
The decision stems from Secretary of State John Thurston’s earlier rejection of the amendment. Thurston cited AFLG’s failure to comply with a 2013 law that requires sponsors to certify that each paid canvasser has received a copy of the state’s initiative and referendum handbook and that canvassing laws have been explained to them.
“Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, AFLG admits that at least seventy-four of the paid canvassers failed to ever have such certification filed,” read the court’s majority opinion, written by Associate Justice Rhonda Wood. She emphasized that the court could not order the Secretary of State to ignore this “mandatory statutory provision.”
The court’s decision prevents the abortion amendment from moving forward despite AFLG’s substantial efforts. The ruling denied a motion by the state to dismiss AFLG’s case outright but ruled against the group’s petition to validate the signatures gathered by paid canvassers.
The ruling was a disappointment to AFLG, which had argued that the Secretary of State was unjust in rejecting the petition. AFLG had submitted paperwork it believed complied with state law, raising questions about whether proper documentation had been misplaced. The group requested a review by the court, which led to a temporary order that counted unpaid signatures but left the fate of the paid canvasser signatures in doubt.
Dissenting justices, including Chief Justice John Dan Kemp, accused the majority of undermining the democratic process. “Both the respondent and the majority have treated this petition differently for the sole purpose of preventing the people from voting on this issue,” Kemp wrote in his dissent.
In a statement after the ruling, AFLG spokesperson Rebecca Bobrow called it “a dark day in Arkansas,” expressing frustration over the court’s decision. “More than 102,000 Arkansas voters exercised their constitutionally protected right to engage in direct democracy by signing the petition,” she said. “The Court’s majority ratifies Secretary Thurston’s decision to silence those voices.”
Despite the setback, AFLG vowed to continue fighting for reproductive rights in the state. “We can’t — and won’t — rest until Arkansas women have access to safe, standard health care and the autonomy to make decisions about their bodies free from governmental interference,” Bobrow added.
On the opposing side, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin celebrated the ruling as a victory for the rule of law. “The Arkansas Supreme Court confirmed today that the abortion advocates failed to follow the law that other ballot committees had successfully followed for over a decade,” Griffin said. “This is a win for the rule of law in Arkansas.”
The court’s decision comes at a pivotal time in the national debate over abortion rights, particularly as states wrestle with restrictions following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. For Arkansas, this ruling marks a critical moment in its ongoing struggle over reproductive rights.
With the court’s decision final, AFLG’s fight for abortion rights in Arkansas now turns to the future, with the group vowing to rally its supporters for the coming electoral battles.
