Petitioners gather signatures for a ballot initiative to expand abortion access in Arkansas during the Voices and Votes rally on Jan. 28, 2024 in Fayetteville. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Get ready, Arkansas. The petitioners are coming.
In coming weeks, people armed with clipboards and sheaves of paper will accost Arkansans outside supermarkets, on street corners and inside businesses (with the owners’ permission, of course).
These document wielders will be asking passersby to sign petitions in support of several constitutional amendments and state laws.
So far, nine citizen-initiated ballot titles have been certified by Attorney General Tim Griffin. Certification means supporters of those proposed constitutional amendments and state laws have until July 5 to gather the required number of signatures from 50 of the state’s 75 counties and have them validated by the secretary of state’s office.
Proposed constitutional amendments require valid signatures from at least 90,704 voters.Proposed state laws require valid signatures from a minimum of 72,563 Arkansas voters.