Secretary Daniels Deems Family Council Petitions Insufficient
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008
Group has 30 days to collect more signatures
LITTLE ROCK, AR—Secretary Daniels today notified the Family Council Action Committee that their submitted ballot initiative petitions have an insufficient number of valid signatures.
On July 7, the group submitted to the Secretary of State petitions with 65,952 signatures for an initiated act to provide that an individual who is cohabiting outside of a valid marriage may not adopt or be a foster parent of a child less than eighteen years old.
The verification process began Monday following the certification of a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize the General Assembly to establish, operate, and regulate state lotteries to fund scholarships and grants for Arkansas citizens enrolled in certified two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas.
2,533 signatures were culled, leaving 63,419 to verify. 57,888 were determined to belong to Arkansas registered voters. 61,974 valid signatures, or eight percent of the number of votes cast for Governor in 2006, are required for initiated acts to get on the ballot this year.
Under Arkansas law, the sponsor has 30 days from the date of notification of insufficiency to collect additional signatures or submit proof that rejected signatures should be counted.
In addition to the lottery initiative, the following three measures referred by the legislature will also appear on the general election ballot:
• Referred Question 1—Arkansas Water, Waste Disposal, and Pollution Abatement Facilities Financing Act of 2007.
• Proposed Referred Constitutional Amendment 1—An Amendment Concerning Voting, Qualifications of Voters and Election Officers, and the Time of Holding General Elections.
• Proposed Referred Constitutional Amendment 2—An Amendment Providing that No Legislative Appropriation Shall be for a Period Longer than One Year, Providing for Fiscal Legislative Sessions, Requiring the General Assembly to Meet Every Year with Regular Sessions Continuing to be Held in Odd-Numbered Years and Fiscal Sessions Held in Even-Numbered Years, Unless the General Assembly Votes to Hold Regular Sessions in Even-Numbered Years and Fiscal Sessions in Odd-Numbered Years, and Allowing the General Assembly to Consider Non-Fiscal Matters During a Fiscal Session Upon Approval of Two-Thirds of Both Houses.
Full ballot titles of the proposed issues can be found at www.votenaturally.org.
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Contact: Natasha Naragon
Phone: (501) 683-1441
Email: natasha.naragon@sos.arkansas.gov
Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels
256 State Capitol Building
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Phone: (501) 682-1010
Website: www.sos.ar.gov
Email: arsos@sos.ar.gov
