FAYETTEVILLE -- Voters will cast ballots "for" or "against" the city's Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance in a Sept. 8 special election.
The language is a reversal of how ballots were worded Dec. 9, when residents voted for or against repeal of another anti-discrimination law.
Web Watch
Go to the online version of this story at nwadg.com to read a sample ballot for the Sept. 8 special election.
Source: Staff Report
The full text of the latest Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance will be printed on the ballot -- also a change from the Dec. 9 election, where just a ballot title was used.
The Washington County Election Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved ballot language, ordered 3,800 paper ballots and set 17 polling sites for the Sept. 8 election.
The city will be responsible for the full cost of the election, which is expected to be similar to the $36,955 Fayetteville paid last time around.
Of the 14,580 residents who cast ballots Dec. 9, 7,527, or nearly 52 percent, voted for repeal of the Civil Rights Administration ordinance and 7,047, or roughly 48 percent, voted against repeal.
Jennifer Price, Washington County election coordinator, said she expects about the same number of voters -- or maybe fewer -- this time around.
After record-breaking turnout in a September 2009 special election, where voters rejected a 4.9-mill tax increase for the Fayetteville School District, fewer residents voted the following year, when a scaled-back 2.75-mill increase was approved.
"If that's an indicator, I think we'll have same the same number (of voters) or possibly even fewer," Price said about this September's special election.
The latest Uniform Civil Rights Protection law, like the previous ordinance, would prohibit specific acts of discrimination anywhere in the city against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Churches and religious institutions are exempt.
Unlike the prior proposal, the latest law calls for a seven-member, City Council-appointed Civil Rights Commission to review complaints of discrimination, rather than a single civil rights administrator. The new proposal also eliminated several points of contention, including references to "socioeconomic background" and people's "real or perceived" sexual orientation or gender identity. It was crafted by the NWA Center for Equality and a group of local lawyers and includes direct references to state law. A draft ordinance from the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign served as the starting point for the previous ordinance.
The "for repeal" language used in last year's special election was the subject of a lawsuit filed in Washington County Circuit Court.
The plaintiffs argued the language was confusing and ran counter to Arkansas law for countywide and state referendums. State law didn't offer clear guidance for municipal referendums at the time.
Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay ruled repeal language was legal and wasn't misleading. He dismissed the lawsuit Oct. 23, allowing the Dec. 9 special election to proceed.
This time around, the City Council directly referred the Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance to a public vote rather than waiting for it to be challenged via a popular petition drive.
That gave aldermen the authority to set ballot language, City Attorney Kit Williams said Tuesday.
He said he was glad the election commission was able to fit the entire text of the ordinance on the ballot this time around.
"If anybody has any question about (the ordinance), it's right there in front of them, whether they're voting electronic or if they're voting with the paper ballot," Williams said. "It's all there."
Including the full text of an ordinance on the ballot is not unprecedented.
Price said voters were able to fully review a proposal to implement road impact fees in an April 2007 special election in Fayetteville.
Early voting is scheduled to begin Sept. 1. The Washington County Clerk's office is the only early voting site. It's also the only place where paper ballots will be available. All other polling sites will exclusively feature touch-screen machines.
The same 17 polling sites used in the Dec. 9 special election will be used Sept. 8. But, for the first time, Fayetteville voters will be able to cast ballots at any of the polling sites, regardless of their precinct.
According to state law, absentee ballots must be prepared and mailed no later than 47 days prior to the special election. Price reminded residents who want to vote absentee but haven't registered as absentee voters yet this year to do so as soon as possible in the County Clerk's office.
NW News on 07/01/2015