|
Opponents of several 2014 ballot issues have taken to billboards, radio and even a State Fair booth to highlight their viewpoints, but voters will have to wait a little longer to find out if Issues 3, 4 and 5 are on the state ballot.
Early voting starts Monday. Yet as of Oct. 14, state Supreme Court justices have not issued any rulings in challenges over the three ballot issues.
On Monday, attorneys involved in a dispute over the Act to Increase the Arkansas Minimum Wage from $6.25 to $8.50 by 2017 filed briefs with the Arkansas Supreme Court. Justices won't hear any arguments in the challenge brought by Jackson Stephens, Jr. and instead will review the court briefs.
Stephens' lawsuit said 8,501 of the initial registered voters' signatures submitted by Give Arkansas A Raise Now were invalid because a notary public's signature on many petition pages looked like it was signed by different people. An outside judge asked by the court to review those voter signatures determined last week that they were properly included in the Secretary of State's initial review that gave sponsors more time to collect additional signatures.
The outside judge said the signatures would not count toward the final signature count to place the issue on the ballot but that the Secretary of State's Office properly included them in an initial review because the petition pages appeared to contain everything required. The voter signatures were valid and there was a signature by a notary public on the petition.
Give Arkansas A Raise Now did submit enough valid signatures to place the issue on the ballot after receiving the additional 30 days that is given to any ballot issue group that submits petitions with more than 62,507 voter signatures.
Attorneys for Stephens believe the special judge erred in his decision, according to the brief filed Monday.
"But for fraud, this measure would not be on the ballot," the brief stated.
Stephens is also challenging the date that Give Arkansas A Raise Now submitted its final signatures. Opponents of Issue 4, a constitutional amendment that would legalize sale of alcohol in all 75 Arkansas counties, are also suing because of the date petitions were submitted.
Arkansas' Constitution requires ballot issue petitions be filed with the Secretary of State's Office no later than four months before the election. This year, the deadline would have fallen on July 4. The Secretary of State advertised the deadline as July 7, the first business day after the holiday.
Justices heard oral arguments last week for Issue 4, in which the deadline issue was discussed. An attorney for the Secretary of State's Office said that had the office set the deadline earlier, it would have infringed on people's rights.
A lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court to block Issue 3 from the ballot has not been decided yet either. Briefs in that case over the legislatively-referred issue were submitted in September, with challengers saying the issue should not be included on the ballot because its ballot title may mislead voters about the state's term limits.
The Public Policy Center will continue to follow these issues and keep you updated on the 2014 ballot measures.
| 
