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Arkansas "Stand Your Ground" Referendum (2022)
| Arkansas "Stand Your Ground" Referendum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Firearms | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Referendum | Origin Citizens |
The Arkansas "Stand Your Ground" Referendum was not on the ballot in Arkansas as a veto referendum on November 8, 2022.
This measure would have upheld or repealed Act 250, which was designed to establish a "stand your ground" law in Arkansas.[1]
Text of measure
Popular name
The popular name for this referendum was as follows:[1]
| “ | An Act Eliminating the Reasonable Duty to Retreat Before Using Deadly Force[2] | ” |
Ballot title
The ballot title for this referendum was as follows:[1]
| “ | An act removing the reasonable duty to retreat before using deadly force from Arkansas law, even though such duty an integral part of the law because it protects the health, safety, and welfare of all citizens while also ensuring that all citizens retain the otherwise unencumbered right to defend their persons and property; being Act 250 of 2021 (SB24).
An "Against" vote is a vote to reject Act 250 and protect the ‘reasonable duty to retreat’ before using deadly force.[2] |
” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Background
Veto referendums in Arkansas
In Arkansas, bills passed by the state legislature can be put before voters through a veto referendum petition.
- Signature requirement: 6 percent of the votes last cast for governor
- Result of a yes vote: targeted law upheld
- Result of a no vote: targeted law repealed
- Successful veto referendum petitions suspend the targeted law until the election.
Path to the ballot
The state process
Signatures for veto referendums must be submitted 90 days after the final adjournment of the 2024 state legislative session. If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.
- Signatures: 53,491 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline for 2021 bills: 90 days following the adjournment of the 2021 session. The legislature adjourned on October 15, 2021, so signatures for referendum petitions were due on January 15, 2021.[3]
- Deadline for 2022 bills: 90 days after the adjournment of the 2022 session.
Details about this initiative
- Arkansans for a Unified Natural State sponsored this initiative.[1]
- Proponents did not submit the required number of valid signatures before the due date.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Arkansans for a Unified Natural State, "Referendum information," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff, communication with referendum sponsors, October 20, 2021
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State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital) |
|---|---|
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