Arkansas Authorize 16 Casino Licenses in 14 Counties Amendment (2020)

Arkansas Authorize 16 Casino Licenses in 14 Counties Amendment
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Gambling
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens
List of Arkansas measuresArkansas Issue 1Arkansas Issue 2Arkansas Issue 3Submit

The Arkansas Authorize 16 Casino Licenses in 14 Counties Amendment was not on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.

This measure would have required the Arkansas Racing Commission to issue 16 casino licenses to specific companies in 14 counties.

Text of measure

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Sponsors

The initiative was sponsored by Arkansas Wins in 2020.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Arkansas

The state process

In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's counties. Signatures remain valid until the date of the next general election following the certification of ballot language. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.

The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2020 ballot:

• Signatures: 89,151 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 3, 2020.

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.

Details about this initiative

• The initiative was filed on May 26, 2020, by Arkansas Wins in 2020.
• Sponsors reported submitting over 97,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's office on July 6, 2020.

Signature validity dispute

• Secretary of State John Thurston issued a statement of insufficiency for the redistricting initiative, top-four ranked-choice voting initiative, and the casino initiative on July 14, 2020. Thurston determined that signatures that were submitted on July 6 for the three citizen initiatives are insufficient under § 7-9-601(b)(3), which requires sponsors to certify that canvassers passed the background checks. Arkansas Wins in 2020, sponsors of the amendment to authorize 16 additional casinos, failed to file the certification. Arkansas Voters First (sponsors of the redistricting measure) and Open Primaries Arkansas (sponsors of the ranked-choice voting measure) submitted certifications stating that the background checks were acquired, but did not say they were passed. Arkansas Voters First is supporting an amendment to create an independent redistricting commission. Open Primaries Arkansas is supporting a top-four open primary ranked-choice voting initiative. The three campaigns are challenging Thurston's determinations. The statements of insufficiency came a day after Special Master Mark Hewett determined signatures submitted on January 31 for the optometry referendum were invalid for the same reason. Hewett's report was filed with Arkansas Supreme Court for a final determination. David Couch, attorney for Arkansas Voters First and Open Primaries Arkansas said he would file an amicus brief in the case. Arkansas Wins 2020 filed an appeal with the Arkansas Supreme Court on July 24, 2020, arguing that Thurston incorrectly invalidated the signatures. Thurston said, "As Secretary of State and Chief Election Officer, it is my duty to follow the statutes and laws passed by the Arkansas State Legislature. I have taken a sworn oath to uphold the law and constitution and my office will continue to follow the law as written."
• The Arkansas Supreme Court appointed Honorable Kathleen Bell as a special master to resolve the case, with a report due by August 17, 2020. The court also allowed Protect Arkansas Communities, the committee opposing the initiative, to intervene in the case. The court granted initiative sponsors a 30-day cure period to collect additional signatures and granted "provisional certification of the initiative pending a review of the merits of the certification by the court."
• On August 7, Arkansas Wins in 2020 filed a motion with the Supreme Court to dismiss its challenge. Taylor Riddle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Wins in 2020, said, "Arkansas Wins in 2020 has filed a motion for a voluntary nonsuit and will not be taking further legal action. It is unfortunate that the Secretary of State's office was unwilling to defend the will of the nearly 100,000 Arkansas voters who signed our petition and we believe our argument before the Supreme Court was valid."

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Gambling on the ballot
• 2020 petition deadlines

Arkansas

• Arkansas ballot measures
• Arkansas initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• University of Arkansas: Arkansas 2020 Statewide Ballot Issues
• Full text

Support

• Arkansas Wins in 2020 Facebook page

Opposition

Submit links to editor@ballotpedia.org.