Arkansas Issue 1, Lottery Proceed Funding for Vocational-Technical School Scholarships and Grants Amendment (2024)

Arkansas Issue 1
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic Gambling and Education
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Arkansas Issue 1, the Lottery Proceed Funding for Vocational-Technical School Scholarships and Grants Amendment, was on the ballot in Arkansas as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported allowing proceeds from the state lottery to fund scholarships and grants for vocational-technical schools and technical institutes.

A "no" vote opposed allowing proceeds from the state lottery to fund scholarships and grants for vocational-technical schools and technical institutes.

Election results

See also: Results for education and school choice ballot measures, 2024

Arkansas Issue 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		1,029,102	89.59%
No		119,527	10.41%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Issue 1 do?

See also: Text of measure

Issue 1 would allowed proceeds from the state lottery to fund scholarships and grants for vocational-technical schools and technical institutes. As of 2024, Arkansas was one of 45 states with a state lottery.

The state lottery was created through voter approval of Amendment 3 in 2008. At the time of the election, Arkansas was one of eight states that did not have a state lottery. Under the 2008 amendment, lottery proceeds were designed to be used to fund scholarships and grants for students enrolled in "public and private non-profit two-year and four-year colleges and universities located within the state that are certified according to criteria established by the General Assembly."

How much money has the lottery raised for scholarships since 2009?

See also: Background

Since the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) started in 2009, it has provided more than 720,000 college scholarships, awarded $4.6 billion in prizes, given $386 million in retailer commissions, and provided approximately $167 million in state and federal tax revenue. The ASL reported a record-high amount of proceeds in fiscal year 2023, with $114,767,979 in proceeds and $607,561,125 in sales. Since the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery was established in 2009, ASL has raised approximately $1.2 billion in scholarship funds. The funds raised by the ASL are allocated to scholarships managed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. These include the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, the Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship, and the Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship. During the 2023 legislative session, the state legislature create the Arkansas Challenge Plus Scholarship, which was set to be awarded to students receiving the Academic Challenge Scholarship, based on their financial need, beginning in 2024.

How did this amendment get on the ballot?

See also: Support and Opposition

The amendment was introduced by Republican Representative Robin Lundstrum (R-18). It was approved unanimously in the Arkansas State Legislature during the 2023 legislative session. Speaking about why the amendment was sponsored, Shane Broadway, vice president for university relations for the Arkansas State University System, said, "As we worked on developing the scholarship program, we were told by our attorneys we could not include state-owned vocational-technical schools because they were not included in the definition in the constitutional amendment."

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the amendment wasis as follows:

“

AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION TO PROVIDE THAT LOTTERY PROCEEDS MAY BE USED TO FUND OR PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS TO ARKANSAS CITIZENS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL SCHOOLS AND TECHNICAL INSTITUTES.

”

Popular name

The popular name for the amendment was as follows:

“

A Constitutional Amendment to Provide that Lottery Proceeds May Be Used to Fund or Provide Scholarships and Grants to Arkansas Citizens Enrolled in Vocational-Technical Schools and Technical Institutes.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Arkansas Constitution

The amendment would amend Section 14(b) of Article 19 of the Arkansas Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added.

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Lotteries

(a) The General Assembly may enact laws to establish, operate, and regulate State lotteries.

(b)(1) Lottery proceeds shall be used solely to pay the operating expenses of lotteries, including all prizes, and to fund or provide for scholarships and grants to citizens of this State enrolled in public and private nonprofit two-year and four-year colleges and universities the following higher education institutions located within the State that are certified according to criteria established by the General Assembly:

(A) A public or private nonprofit two-year or four-year college or university;

(B) A public or private vocational-tehcnical school; or

(C) A public or private technical institute.

(2) The General Assembly shall establish criteria to determine who is eligible to receive the scholarships and grants pursuant to this Amendment.

(c) Lottery proceeds shall not be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly and are specifically declared to be cash funds held in trust separate and apart from the State treasury to be managed and maintained by the General Assembly or an agency or department of the State as determined by the General Assembly.

(d) Lottery proceeds remaining after payment of operating expenses and prizes shall supplement, not supplant, non-lottery educational resources.

(e) This Amendment does not repeal, supersede, amend or otherwise affect Amendment 84 to the Arkansas Constitution or games of bingo and raffles permitted therein.

(f) Except as herein specifically provided, lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets are prohibited.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 19, and the FRE is 14. The word count for the ballot title is 29.

The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 19, and the FRE is 16. The word count for the ballot summary is 32.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R)

Arguments

• Shane Broadway, vice president for university relations for the Arkansas State University System: "As we worked on developing the scholarship program, we were told by our attorneys we could not include state-owned vocational-technical schools because they were not included in the definition in the constitutional amendment."

Opposition

Arguments

You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Arkansas ballot measures

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) reported $114,767,979 in proceeds and $607,561,125 in sales during fiscal year 2023, the second-highest amount for sales and the record-highest amount of proceeds. Previously, fiscal year 2021 held the records for both net proceeds, at $106,417,224, and sales, at $631,934,927. Since the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery was established in 2009, ASL has raised a total of more than $1.2 billion in scholarship funds. The funds raised by the ASL are allocated towards scholarships managed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. These include the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, the Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship, and the Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship. During the 2023 legislative session, the state legislature create the Arkansas Challenge Plus Scholarship, which was set to be awarded to students receiving the Academic Challenge Scholarship, based on their financial need, beginning in 2024. In 2023, ASL reported $416,827,209 million in prize winnings, with retailer commissions of $34,300,134 million. To date, ASL has awarded more than 720,000 college scholarships, paid out over $4.6 billion in prizes, given around $386 million in retailer commissions, and contributed more than $167 million in state and federal tax revenue.

State Lottery Amendment (2008)

See also: Arkansas State Lottery, Proposed Amendment 3 (2008)

The Arkansas state lottery was created through voter approval of a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (Amendment 3) in 2008. It was approved by a vote of 63% to 37%. At the time of the election, Arkansas was one of eight states that did not have a state lottery. Under the amendment, lottery proceeds were set to be used to fund scholarships and grants for students enrolled in "public and private non-profit two-year and four-year colleges and universities located within the state that are certified according to criteria established by the General Assembly."

The initiative was sponsored by Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter (D). The Arkansas AFL-CIO endorsed the 2008 amendment and helped collect signatures to qualify it for the ballot. Union president Alan Hughes said, "Our members feel this would help things a lot. They just want the same opportunity their counterparts have in other states, so their families have an opportunity to send their children to college."

Opponents of the 2008 state lottery amendment included the Family Council of Arkansas, the United Methodist Church in Arkansas, and the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council.

Initiatives to create a state lottery were defeated in 1996 and 2000.

State lotteries in the U.S.

Arkansas is one of 45 states that have a state lottery. The five states that did not have a lottery as of 2023 were Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.

The first state to create a state lottery was New Hampshire in 1964. The most recent state to establish a state lottery was Mississippi in 2018.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Arkansas Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a simple majority vote is required in both the Arkansas State Senate and the Arkansas House of Representatives.

The amendment was introduced on February 7, 2023. It was passed in the House on April 4, 2023, by a vote of 97-0 with three members absent or not voting. The Senate passed the amendment on April 6, 2023, by a vote of 30-0 with five members absent or not voting.

Vote in the Arkansas House of Representatives April 4, 2023
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 51  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	97	0	3
Total percent	97.00%	0.00%	3.00%
Democrat	17	0	1
Republican	80	0	2

Vote in the Arkansas State Senate April 7, 2023
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 18  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	30	0	5
Total percent	85.71%	0.00%	14.29%
Democrat	5	0	1
Republican	25	0	4

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Arkansas

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Arkansas.

How to vote in Arkansas

Poll times

In Arkansas, all polls are open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Arkansas, one must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Arkansas. A voter must be 18 years of age or older on or before Election Day, not be a convicted felon whose sentence has not been discharged or pardoned, and not be adjudged as mentally incompetent.

Registration must be completed no later than 30 days before the election in which a voter wishes to participate. Citizens must complete and submit a voter registration application to their county clerk or other authorized voter registration agency. For voters that submit applications by mail, the date of postmark will be considered the submission date. Applications may be obtained at the following locations:

• County clerk's office
• The Arkansas Secretary of State Elections Division
• Local revenue or DMV office
• Public library
• Disability agency
• Military recruitment office
• Online

Automatic registration

Arkansas does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Arkansas does not permit online voter registration.

Same-day registration

Arkansas does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Arkansas law requires 30 days of residency in the state before a person may vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Arkansas does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who provides false information "may be subject to a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 10 years under state and federal laws."

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The site Voter View, run by the Arkansas Secretary of State's office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Arkansas requires voters to present photo identification while voting. The identification must include the voter’s name and photograph. It must be issued by "the United States, the State of Arkansas, or an accredited postsecondary educational institution in the State of Arkansas." If the identification has an expiration date on it, it cannot be expired for "more than four (4) years before the date of the election in which the voter seeks to vote."

The following list of accepted ID was current as of July 2024. Click here for the Arkansas Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

• Driver’s license
• Photo identification card
• Concealed handgun carry license
• United States passport
• Employee badge or identification document issued by an accredited postsecondary education institution in the State of Arkansas
• United States military identification document
• Public assistance identification card if it has a photograph
• Voter verification card as provided under Ark. Code § 7-5-324

"A person who is a resident of a long-term care or residential care facility licensed by the state of Arkansas is not required to verify his or her registration by presenting a document or identification card as described above when voting in person, but must provide documentation from the administrator of the facility attesting that the person is a resident of the facility," according to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office.

Voters can obtain a voter verification card at their county clerk's office: "[V]oters will be required to complete an affidavit stating they do not possess such identification, and must provide documentation containing their full legal name and date of birth, as well as documentation containing their name and residential address."

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• Gambling on the ballot
• Education on the ballot

Arkansas

• Arkansas ballot measures
• Arkansas ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• House Joint Resolution 1006