FAYETTEVILLE -- The state's requirement for in-person signatures on petitions to place measures on the ballot was struck down Friday in federal court.
The state required signatures by voters in the presence of a canvasser. Further, the canvasser must have signed an affidavit in the presence of a notary public all signatures were personally witnessed by the canvasser. Those requirements violate the plaintiff's free speech rights, U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes ruled. Holmes started allowing plaintiffs and others wishing to circulate petitions for ballot measures to begin collecting signatures without a canvasser present Monday. Friday's ruling makes his decision permanent.
Plaintiffs were supporting Arkansas Voters First, a group seeking to change the way legislative and congressional district borders are drawn. The plaintiffs argued the in-person voting requirement violated their rights during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic which curtailed their ability to circulate or sign petitions.
The court ruling makes no mention of the pandemic, citing the "unconstitutional nature of the in-person signing and sworn affidavit requirements of Arkansas law." The state had argued in court documents and in a May 19 hearing the in-person requirements were needed to prevent fraud.
State-imposed pandemic restrictions have made the state's in-person requirement almost impossible to meet, the plaintiffs argued in the suit. State law requires petitions seeking to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election to have 89,151 signatures of registered voters, a number set by calculating 10% of the votes in the previous gubernatorial election. The law also requires signatures come from at least 15 of the state's 75 counties. The petitions are due July 6.
Pandemic-control measures include banning large gatherings, the usual spots for collecting petition signatures, the plaintiffs argued.
NW News on 05/30/2020