Arkansas Initiative and Referendum Process Amendment (2026)
| Arkansas Initiative and Referendum Process Amendment | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Initiative and referendum process and State legislative authority |
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| Status Pending official review |
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| Type Initiated constitutional amendment |
Origin |
The Arkansas Initiative and Referendum Process Amendment may appear on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
This measure would provide for the statewide initiative and referendum in the state constitution including requirements for submitting a proposal and providing for a 45-day period where a proposed measure may be challenged in the state supreme court. The amendment would prohibit the state legislature from altering or repealing voter-approved constitutional amendments. The amendment would provide that any constitutional provisions or statutes that are inconsistent or conflict with the proposal are void. The section of the constitution created by the measure would only be able to be amended by a citizen initiative.[1]
Path to the ballot
The state process
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 15 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.
Details about this initiative
- May 9, 2025: Save AR Democracy, a coalition of groups including the League of Women Voters of Arkansas, Conservatives Against Corruption, and Respect Voters Coalition, filed the initiative.[2]
- May 21, 2025: The attorney general approved the ballot title for the initiative.[1]
- June 13, 2025: Organizers began gathering signatures for the initiative petition.[3]
- July 24, 2025: The League of Women Voters of Arkansas and Protect AR Rights filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of new state laws governing the petition and referendum process.[4]
League of Women Voters of Arkansas, et al v. Jester
| Court Information | |
| Issue | Do the state laws requiring canvassers to sign more affidavits before and after collecting signatures, verify signers' identities with photo ID, read ballot titles aloud to signers, and ballot titles to be written at no higher than an eighth-grade level violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas state constitution? |
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| Court | The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas |
| Ruling | |
| Ruling | The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas ruled that many of the challenged laws likely infringe on an individual's right to participate in public debate through political expression and political association. The court granted in part and denied in part motions for a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of laws such as requiring ballot titles to meet an eighth-grade reading level; the pre-collection disclosure of information about signature gatherers; and requiring photo ID before signing a petition. The court denied parts of the injunction that asked it to certify whether a ballot title that scores above 8.0 but below 9.0 on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula has 'a reading level above eighth grade' under Act 602 of 2025 and put a hold on the publication costs requirement. |
| Order(s) | Order: United State District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (November 19, 2025) |
| Participants | |
| Plaintiff(s) | League of Women Voters of Arkansas, Save AR Democracy, Bonnie Heather Miller, and Danielle Quesnell |
| Defendant(s) | Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester (R) |
Summary
On December 3, 2025, Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester filed an appeal to dispute a temporary injunction against the laws enacted by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2025 to change the state's ballot referendum process.[5]
Earlier, on November 19, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas granted in part and denied in part a temporary injunction on the new state laws. In the opinion, Chief District Judge Timothy L. Brooks wrote "while the United States Constitution does not guarantee direct democracy, it does 'safeguard[ ] an individual's right to participate in the public debate through political expression and political association.' Many of the challenged laws likely infringe on this right."[6]
On April 21, 2025, the League of Women Voters of Arkansas, Save AR Democracy, Bonnie Heather Miller, and Danielle Quesnell filed the lawsuit against Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 KATV, "Constitutional amendment proposed to streamline Arkansas ballot initiative process," accessed March 17, 2025
- ↑ Arkansas Attorney General, "Opinion No. 2025-33," accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "Direct democracy petition drive gets underway as supporters explain goals at Fayetteville news conference," accessed June 16, 2025
- ↑ Arkansas Advocate, "Ballot coalitions request preliminary injunction in Arkansas direct democracy lawsuit," accessed July 28, 2025
- ↑ KLRT, "Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester files notice of appeal of temporary injunction on ballot referendum changes," accessed December 16, 2025
- ↑ United States District Court, Western District of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division, "League of Women Voters of Arkansas et al v. Jester," accessed December 16, 2025
