More than 100 years ago Arkansas joined several western and northern states in adopting the citizen initiative process, which gave citizens the ability to propose new laws to fellow voters on the ballot.
Fast forward to today and Arkansas is one of 15 states where citizens can propose a (1) constitutional amendment, (2) state law, and (3) a referendum on a recent law passed by the legislature. Many states have an initiative process but limit the type of proposal citizens can make.
Despite Arkansas voters rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment in 2020 that would have changed the citizen initiative process, Arkansas legislators in 2023 passed Act 236 to increase the number of counties where campaigns had to collect voter signatures. The state is defending this law in court…