Arkansas Voting and Elections, Proposed Constitutional Amendment 1 (2008)
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Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 1, also known as the Voting and Elections Amendment, appeared as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Arkansas, where it was approved.[1]
Amendment 1 gives the legislature the power to determine who can be a voting official. The measure also removes outdated language from the constitution.
Election results
| Arkansas Voting and Elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 714,128 | 72.8% | ||
| No | 267,326 | 27.2% | ||
Background
Amendment 51, adopted by Arkansas voters in 1964, supersedes many of the provisions Proposed Amendment 1 deals with. It already allows a court to cancel the registration of mentally ill or mentally disabled voters if a judge determines the voters are incompetent. Amendment 51 also repealed the poll tax in Arkansas.
Specific Provisions
The measure:
- Removes language in Article 3, Section 5, which says: "No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector."
- Gives the Legislature the power to determine who can be a voting official. Currently, Arkansas was the only state that didn't give its Legislature the power to determine the qualifications of a poll worker. The state constitution banned state workers from serving as poll workers.
- Replaces the poll-tax language in Article 3, Section 1 of the constitution, which currently requires a voter to "exhibit a poll tax receipt or other evidence that they have paid their poll tax," with text allowing voting by anyone who is a citizen of the United States, a resident of Arkansas, at least 18 years of age, and lawfully registered to vote.
Supporters
Secretary of State Charlie Daniels, the primary supporter, said he didn't expect any controversy.
- Secretary of State Charlie Daniels
- Sen. Steve Faris, D-Central
Arguments in favor
Notable arguments made in favor of the measure included:
- The measure would update the language of the constitution, and remove archaic language regarding "idiots" and "poll-tax"
See also
- Laws governing the initiative process in Arkansas
- Arkansas 2008 ballot measures
- 2008 ballot measures
- List of Arkansas ballot measures
- List of ballot measures by year
- List of ballot measures by state
External links
References
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