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Arkansas Create a Fundamental Right to Initiative and Referendum Amendment (2026)
| Arkansas Create a Fundamental Right to Initiative and Referendum Amendment (2026) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2026 | |
| Topic Initiative and referendum process | |
| Status Cleared for signature gathering | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Arkansas Create a Fundamental Right to Initiative and Referendum Amendment may be on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The amendment would make multiple changes to Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution. The amendment would:[1]
- Grant the people the fundamental right to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to approve or reject any law created by the state legislature;
- Provide every voter the fundamental right to sign an initiative or referendum petition;
- Require the ballot titles of veto referendums to begin with "This referendum repeals..." and end with the exact title of the act passed by the legislature that the referendum would repeal;
- Limit the distribution requirement for signatures in initiative and referendum petitions to 15 counties; and
- Make several alterations to the local initiative and referendum process, among other changes.
Text of measure
Popular Name
The official popular name is as follows:[1]
| “ |
The Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment[2] |
” |
Ballot title
The official ballot title is as follows:[1]
| “ | This measure amends Article 5, § 1 of the Arkansas Constitution. It gives the people the fundamental right to make and repeal laws by petition. It gives Arkansas registered voters the fundamental right to sign a petition. It gives U.S. citizens who have not been convicted of certain crimes the fundamental right to collect signatures on a petition. It defines “petition fraud.” Petition fraud is a criminal offense. The legislature decides the penalty range for this crime. The measure repeals the legislature’s authority to pass other petition fraud laws. The government must notify registered voters before it can reject their signatures. Notice is provided by mail, phone, and email, if possible. If voters timely correct signature problems, their signatures are counted. The government shall not require petition signatures to be from more than 15 counties. The legislature may amend or repeal an initiated act by a 2/3 vote. The legislature shall not amend a constitutional amendment approved by a vote of the people. A county quorum court may amend or repeal an initiated county measure by a 2/3 vote. A city council may amend or repeal an initiated local measure by a 2/3 vote. The ballot title of a referendum shall be “This referendum repeals…” followed by the title of the Act. The Secretary of State must publish a notice that informs the public of a measure’s popular name and ballot title. The notice explains how to contest the name and title. The notice shall be made in a statewide newspaper. It will be on the Secretary of State’s website too. Any lawsuit against the ballot title must be filed within 10 business days after the notice is published. If the sufficiency of a ballot title or popular name is challenged, the Arkansas Supreme Court has jurisdiction. The Court quickly reviews these lawsuits. Lawsuits against petitions require clear and convincing evidence. If the government discovers a scrivener’s or filing error, it notifies the sponsor right away. The sponsor has 10 business days to correct the error. The government shall not reject the measure if the error is timely corrected. The government shall not reject a measure that substantially complies with the law. Any laws affecting this amendment must be clerical. Only registered voters’ signatures are counted. Previously, canvassers signed an affidavit. This changes the affidavit to a declaration. The declaration is made under penalty of perjury. This measure repeals all inconsistent state laws. This amendment is severable. If part of it is held invalid, the rest is still valid if it can stand on its own.[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in Arkansas
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In Arkansas, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Arkansas requires that a petition must contain qualified signatures equaling at least half of the required percentage of signatures (5%) from each of 50 of the state's 75 counties. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2026 ballot:
- Signatures: 90,704 valid signatures are required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures is July 3, 2026.
Stages of the constitutional amendment
The following is the timeline of the initiated constitutional amendment:
- May 19, 2025: Protect AR Rights, the committee sponsoring the initiated constitutional amendment, announced their initiative.[3]
- June 2, 2025: The attorney general rejected the ballot title and amendment because the ballot title scored higher than an eighth-grade reading level, a requirement under Arkansas law.[4]
- July 1, 2025: The attorney general again rejected a proposed ballot title for the initiated amendment because the ballot title scored higher than an eighth-grade reading level.[5]
- July 28, 2025: The attorney general approved the initiated constitutional amendment and cleared the sponsors to gather signatures in support of the petition.[1]
External links
See also
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Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Attorney General of Arkansas, "Opinion No. 2025-026," accessed July 29, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Arkansas Advocate, "Arkansas attorney general approves second direct democracy ballot title," accessed July 29, 2025
- ↑ University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research & Extension, "Tracking Arkansas 2026 Ballot Issues," accessed July 29, 2025
- ↑ Arkansas Advocate, "Arkansas ballot measure again rejected for not meeting reading-level requirement," accessed July 29, 2025
