The Tuesday Count: Arkansas 2016 ballot beginning to take shape

December 2, 2014

Edited by Brittany Clingen

While residents of some locales, including Washington D.C., have yet to find out how the results of the 2014 midterm elections will affect them, others are waiting to see what issues will appear on 2015 and 2016 ballots.

Potential Arkansas 2016 ballot beginning to take shape:
Regnat Populus, a citizens' group that has been active in direct democracy activity in Arkansas and involved in several ballot measures over the years, is once again proposing an initiative for the 2016 ballot. Not unlike past measures the group has supported - including, most recently, Issue 3, which was approved by voters during the 2014 general election - the latest one addresses ethics and transparency, specifically tackling campaign finance reform.

If approved by voters, the measure would change requirements for disclosing donors to political campaigns. Specifically, it would require any person making a payment of $2,000 or more or any person or independent expenditure committee making an independent expenditure of more than $500 to disclose this information to the Arkansas Secretary of State or the county clerk. The measure would also instruct the Arkansas Congressional Delegation to support an amendment to the United States Constitution that would reverse the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. In order to put the measure before voters, supporters must gather valid signatures equal to at least 8 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of governor in the last gubernatorial election, which, in this case, was in 2014. Furthermore, Arkansas law requires that a petition must contain, from each of 15 counties, qualified signatures equaling at least half of the designated signatures for that county in order to achieve a "county minimum." Time will tell if Regnat Populus can successfully collect enough signatures for the measure - a feat the group failed to accomplish in 2012, thereby preventing an ethics law initiative from appearing on the ballot.

A second measure that has the potential to appear on the 2016 ballot in Arkansas addresses same-sex marriage. If approved by voters, the measure would define marriage as a union between two people, regardless of their gender. It would also exempt clergymen from performing same-sex marriages and repeal Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution, thereby permitting county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Since this measure is an initiated constitutional amendment, signatures equal to at least 10 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of governor in the last gubernatorial election are required.

Local spotlight

Congress may put up road blocks to Washington, D.C., marijuana legalization despite over 70 percent voter approval: Although 114,929 people, out of the 163,978 who voted on it, approved Initiative 71, which sought to legalize small amounts of marijuana in the nation's capital, the fate of the measure ultimately rests with the U.S. Congress, a legislative body in which D.C. voters have no voting representatives. City and federal law allows Congress 30 days after the results of a measure in the capital city are certified to review it and cast judgement. If a resolution to reject the measure is approved, the initiative cannot be enforced unless the president vetoes the resolution. If it is unable to find support for an explicit resolution disenfranchising so many city voters, Congress could also refuse to authorize funding necessary for regulation and enforcement of the new law, thereby restricting the initiative from taking effect.

Disagreement over ballot language for fracking ban initiative in La Habra Heights, California, spurs lawsuit: Shortly after an initiative to prohibit fracking in La Habra Heights qualified for the ballot, resident James Pigott sued the city over the ballot language provided for the initiative. Specifically, Pigott's attorneys claim the phrase "high-intensity petroleum operations" used in the ballot title and summary is not neutral language. They claim that the phrase has acquired political charge that could sway voters in their decision. In order to avoid a lengthy and expensive court case, the city council voted on December 1, 2014, to replace the objectionable language with "land use for any treatment of oil or gas wells that is designed to enhance production or recovery." The Heights Oil Watch, the group behind the initiative, is considering a counter-suit seeking to require the original language. The suit would claim that the new language might mislead voters into thinking the initiative would prohibit already existing oil and gas operations.

Other measures in the news

• Georgia Marijuana Legalization Amendment (2016): Sen. Curt Thompson (D-5) pre-files amendment to legalize recreational marijuana.
• Nevada Background Checks for Gun Purchases Initiative, Question 1 (2016): Nevadans for State Gun Rights is calling on Secretary of State Ross Miller (D) to throw out initiative.
• California "Federal Government Censure" Initiative (2016): Sovereign California proposes an initiative to censure the federal government for mistreating California.

See also

2014 ballot measures

Tuesday Count • 2014 Scorecard

• Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2014
• 2014 ballot measures
• Local ballot measure elections in 2014