The Arkansas Initiative Process and Constitutional Referral Amendment was not on the ballot in Arkansas as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have made changes to the ballot initiative process and the legislative referral of constitutional amendments process. Both initiated amendments and referred amendments would have needed to receive a 60 percent vote at the ballot box to be approved. The measure would have forbidden amendments, initiated or referred, that give power, privilege, or authority to "a specific individual identified by his or her name" or "a private business entity identified by name."[1]
The following changes would have been made to the ballot initiative process:[1]
- (1) Required that signatures for initiatives be filed 180 days before the election. As of 2017, the requirement was four months (123 days) before the election.
- (2) Established a distribution requirement for initiated constitutional amendments of 1/2 of the percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 25 counties. As of 2017, the distribution requirement for initiated amendments and initiated statutes was 1/2 of the percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 15 counties.
- (3) Required challenges to ballot titles be made in court not later than 60 days after the filing of the initiative petition.
- (4) Required challenges to the sufficiency of signatures submitted for an initiative be made not later than 30 days after signature verification.
The following changes would have been made to the legislative referral process:[1]
- (1) Required a 2/3 vote in each chamber of the legislature to refer amendments. As of 2017, a simple majority in each chamber was required.
- (2) Required that the ballot title of a referred amendment be intelligent, honest, and impartial. The Arkansas Attorney General would have determined whether the ballot title satisfied these three criteria, and required the legislature to rewrite a ballot title failing to meet these criteria.
- (3) Required challenges to ballot titles of referred amendments be filed in the Arkansas Supreme Court at least 180 days before the election.
- (4) Allowed the state Supreme Court to strike down a referred amendment if it constitutes "a manifest fraud upon the public."
Text of measure
Popular title
The popular title would have been as follows:[1]
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A Constitutional Amendment Concerning Proposed Measures and Constitutional Amendments Considered by Voters at an Election.[2]
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Ballot summary
The ballot summary would have been as follows:[1]
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An amendment to the Arkansas Constitution concerning proposed measures and constitutional amendments considered by voters at an election; providing that initiative petitions for state-wide measures shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than one hundred eighty (180) days before the election at which they are to be voted upon; providing that a petition concerning a proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution shall bear the signatures of not less than one-half (1/2) of the designated percentage of the electors from at least twenty-five (25) of the counties of the state; providing that general laws shall be enacted providing for the exercise of the initiative and referendum as to municipalities; providing that the General Assembly shall not fix the time for filing an initiative petition in municipalities and counties at less than sixty (60) days nor more than ninety (90) days before the election at which the initiative is to be voted upon; providing that the General Assembly may fix the time for filing a referendum petition at not less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days after the passage of the measure at issue by a quorum court or municipal council; providing that an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution submitted to the people through the initiative process shall take effect and become part of the Arkansas Constitution when approved by three-fifths (3/5) of the votes cast upon the amendment and shall not be required to receive a majority of the electors voting at such election; providing that, by a majority vote at a regular session, the General Assembly may submit a proposed law to the people for approval or rejection by a majority of the votes cast at a general election; providing that the General Assembly shall not submit more than three (3) proposed laws to the people for approval or rejection at a regular session and shall not submit a proposed appropriation bill to the people for approval or rejection at a general election; providing that the provisions concerning the submission of proposed laws to the people by the General Assembly are inapplicable to the submission of a question concerning the issuance of bonds to the electors that is otherwise authorized by the Arkansas Constitution or by law; providing that the General Assembly may enact laws concerning the process for submitting a proposed law to the people for approval or rejection at a general election; providing that if conflicting measures initiated or referred to the people are approved by the required number of votes, the measure receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall become law; providing that a challenge to the sufficiency of the title submitted with a petition to be used on the ballot shall be made not later than sixty (60) days after the filing of the petition; providing that a challenge to the sufficiency of the signatures submitted in support of a petition shall be made not later than thirty (30) days after certification of the sufficiency of the signatures by the secretary of state, county clerk, or city clerk, as the case may be; providing that correction or amendment of an insufficient state-wide petition concerning a proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution shall be permitted only if the petition contains valid signatures of legal voters equal to at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the required number of signatures of legal voters from each of at least twenty-five (25) counties of the state; revising the process for the General Assembly to propose amendments to the Arkansas Constitution at a regular session of the General Assembly; providing that a proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution shall not be submitted by the General Assembly to the electors of the state for approval or rejection unless the proposed amendment receives a two-thirds vote of each house of the General Assembly; providing that the General Assembly shall not submit more than three (3) proposed constitutional amendments at a general election unless a fourth amendment concerning salaries of certain constitutional officers is submitted under Arkansas Constitution, amendment 70, § 2; providing that the General Assembly shall designate in the joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution the ballot title and popular name that shall appear on the general election ballot; providing that the ballot title for an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly shall be intelligible, honest, impartial, and while not required to recite all details of the proposed amendment, shall not be misleading; providing that the popular name for an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly shall identify the proposed amendment in a manner that enables the electors to vote on each amendment separately and shall be intelligible, honest, and impartial when read together with the ballot title; providing that within thirty (30) days of the adoption by the General Assembly of a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution, the attorney general shall review the ballot title and popular name and certify the ballot title and popular name for inclusion on the ballot at the next general election if he or she determines the ballot title and popular name satisfy the required standards; providing that the attorney general shall refer the ballot title or popular name, or both, to the General Assembly for substitution of the ballot title or popular name, or both, if the attorney general believes after review that the ballot title or popular name, or both, do not satisfy the required standards; providing that the General Assembly shall designate by law a committee to substitute ballot titles and popular names; providing that the attorney general shall review a substituted ballot title or popular name, or both, for certification and shall continue to refer the substituted ballot title or popular name, or both, to the General Assembly until he or she determines the ballot title and popular name satisfies the required standards; providing that the attorney general shall certify the ballot title and popular name for inclusion on the ballot at least one (1) year before the general election at which the amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly shall be considered; providing that a challenge to the sufficiency of the ballot title or popular name, or both, of an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly may be filed with the supreme court at least one hundred eighty (180) days before the general election at which the proposed amendment shall be voted upon; providing that the supreme court shall strike an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly from the ballot only if the ballot title or popular name, or both, constitute a manifest fraud upon the public; providing that an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly and its ballot title and popular name shall be published as provided by law; providing that an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution proposed by the General Assembly shall become part of the Arkansas Constitution when approved by three-fifths (3/5) of the electors voting on the proposed amendment at the general election; providing that the General Assembly may enact laws concerning the process for proposing amendments to the Arkansas Constitution; and providing that an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution shall not specifically bestow powers, privileges, or authority to a specific individual identified by name or a private business entity identified by name.[2]
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Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Arkansas Constitution
In Arkansas, a proposed constitutional amendment must be approved by a simple majority in both houses of the state legislature during one legislative session.
The amendment was introduced into the legislature as House Joint Resolution 1003 (HJR 1003) on February 8, 2017. The House of Representatives approved the amendment, 79 to 10 with 11 members not voting, on March 27, 2017. The Senate defeated the amendment, with nine senators in favor, 21 against, and five not voting, on March 31, 2017.[3]
The 2017 legislative session ran from January 9, 2017, through April 3, 2017.
House vote
March 27, 2017[3]
| Arkansas HJR 1003 House Vote |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage |  a Yes | 79 | 88.76% | | No | 10 | 11.24% |
| Partisan breakdown of House votes
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| Party Affiliation
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Yes
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No
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Excused
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Total
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| Democrat |
10 |
8 |
6 |
24
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| Republican |
69 |
2 |
5 |
76
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| Total |
79 |
10 |
11 |
100
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Senate vote
March 31, 2017[3]
| Arkansas HJR 1003 Senate Vote |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage |  d No | 21 | 60.00% | | Yes | 9 | 30.00% |
| Partisan breakdown of Senate votes
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| Party Affiliation
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Yes
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No
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Excused
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Total
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| Democrat |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9
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| Republican |
9 |
12 |
5 |
26
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| Total |
9 |
21 |
5 |
35
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See also
