BT Staff / Tuesday, June 18, 2024

AFEC: Potential Amendments On November's State Ballot

Sponsors for the following proposed state constitutional amendments have been given approval from the state’s attorney general to circulate petitions to attempt to gather the 91,000 signatures of Arkansas registered voters required to certify their measure for November’s general election ballot. They are listed in the chronological order for which the attorney general’s approval was issued. A brief description is included for each of the proposed amendments:

• “The Absentee Voting Amendment of 2024” was approved on Jan. 12. It would, in part, allow only the voter to handle their absentee ballot and would also prohibit online voting.

• “Arkansas Abortion Amendment” was approved Jan. 23. It would allow abortions during the first 20 weeks of gestation (first five months of pregnancy) and thereafter for the full term of pregnancy for a number of broad, vague and indefinite exceptions.

• “The Arkansas Government Openness Amendment,” “The Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment,” “The Open Meetings and Open Records in State and Local Government Amendment” and “The Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2024” were approved Jan. 24. All four of these measures are intended to strengthen the Arkansas Freedom of Information laws and heighten the transparency of government operations and procedures.

• “Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024” was approved Feb. 29. It will expand the list of medical professionals who can certify a patient for medical marijuana, and it would also allow individuals themselves to grow a certain amount of marijuana.

• “The Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024” was approved March 1. This proposal will require any school receiving state or local funds to have identical academic standards and identical standards for accreditation, including assessments of students and schools based on such standards.

• “An amendment requiring local voter approval in a countywide special election for certain new casino licenses and repealing authority to issue a casino license in Pope County, Arkansas” was approved March 20. This is a proposal to remove Pope County from the state constitution as a location where casino gambling is allowed and to establish a requirement for local elections on future casinos.

• If you need more information about any of these or have questions about them, please feel free to contact us at (501) 837-1688 or llp@ArFaith.org.