Attorney General Dustin McDaniel rejected the wording Monday of two pro-gay marriage measures that activists hope to place on the 2016 ballot.
Both groups want to call their proposals “The Arkansas Marriage Amendment.” Both seek to repeal Amendment 83 of the state constitution, which says marriage “consists only of the union of one man and one woman.”
One of the proposed amendments has been submitted by Jennifer Pierce of Bryant, a 28-year-old schoolteacher and graduate student at Arkansas State University.
The other is being promoted by the Arkansas Initiative for Marriage Equality,a group founded by 22-yearold Pulaski Technical College student Jack Michael Weir III.
McDaniel says the popular title is ambiguous. And both ballot titles - the short summaries that people see in the voting booths - are flawed.
To qualify, a ballot title “must include an impartial summary of the proposed amendment or act that will give the voter a fair understanding of the issues presented,” McDaniel wrote in his letters to Pierce and Weir. “Where the effects of a proposed measure on current law are unclear or ambiguous, it is impossible for me to perform my statutory duty to the satisfaction ofthe Arkansas Supreme Court without clarification of the ambiguities.”
This is the second time McDaniel has rejected a marriage amendment popular name and ballot title submitted by Pierce. The attorney general has now found fault with Weir’s proposed language on three occasions.
In September, McDaniel certified the popular name and ballot title of a marriage amendment sponsored by Arkansans for Equality, after rejecting its initial two attempts. The group hopes to place its measure, now known as the “Repeal of the Arkansas Marriage Amendment,” on the 2014 ballot.
Amendment 83, which enshrines heterosexual marriage in the state constitution, passed in 2004, receiving 75 percent of the vote.
Despite receiving his third rejection letter, Weir said, “We’re hopeful. … There’s a lot less ambiguity than last time. It seems that these [problems] are easily fixable.”
Weir said he hopes to submit a revised version sometime this week, and Pierce said she’ll also be fine-tuning her language.
“We’re just going to keep resubmitting and keep trying. I think we’re actually making progress,” she said.
To earn a spot on the 2014 ballot, activists for the “ Repeal of the Arkansas Marriage Amendment” effort must collect valid signatures from 78,133 Arkansas voters and submit them to the secretary of state’s office by July 7.
Family Council President Jerry Cox, who helped spearhead passage of Amendment 83, says his group will work to defeat any pro-gay-marriage ballot measure.
“We’re going to oppose it every step of the way,” Cox said.
The conservative Christian activist said Arkansas voters are less likely to strike down traditional marriage than are Arkansas judges. “I do believe public opinion is still on our side, and I do believe it will remain so,” he said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/08/2013