BT Staff / Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Decline to Sign: What? Why? How?

By Larry Page, Executive Director • Arkansas Committee for Ethics Policy

As I’m sure you are aware, there are several ballot measures being worked by sponsors in an effort to place them before Arkansas voters in the state’s Nov. 5 general election. These various measures encompass several important matters. However, two of those merit our particular focus and attention. They are the Arkansas Abortion Amendment (AAA) and the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment (AMMA).

The proponents of each of these amendments must gather almost 91,000 signatures of Arkansas registered voters on petitions to certify their proposals for the general election ballot. They have until July 5 to turn their petitions in to the Arkansas Secretary of State. We cannot know how well each of those efforts are doing, but we do know that very aggressive signature-gathering efforts by their canvassers are taking place.

If the AAA passes, it will permit abortions through the entire pregnancy in many cases, making our state one of the most radical abortion states. Also, abortionists won’t have to be licensed to practice medicine, and abortion facilities won’t have to be licensed or inspected. Another outcome might be that abortions can be performed on adolescent girls without their parents’ knowledge. It is also conceivable that taxpayers will have to finance abortions. These are but a few of the considerable objections to the AAA; there are others.

If the AMMA passes, among some of the more objectionable features include the granting of marijuana cards to immigrants and out-of-state residents, unlimited advertising of marijuana products that appeal to children, and an ironclad, unbreakable business monopoly for those growing and marketing marijuana in our state. Other bad features of this amendment combined with those listed above will establish Arkansas as a virtual recreational marijuana state. One of the last things the people of this state need is more people becoming dependent on and addicted to marijuana. What will follow is a decline in the quality of life here and more troublesome consequences for families and communities.

What can we do during this signature-gathering phase for these harmful amendments? We can engage in a “decline to sign” campaign. First, we should educate folks about these amendments. In conjunction with that, we should encourage those within our spheres of influence to refuse to sign petitions for these amendments.

Often, the following sales pitch is made: “Signing the petition doesn’t mean you are in favor of the amendment, you’re just helping get it on the ballot so folks can vote it up or down.” That is a deceptive tactic. We are under no obligation to put a bad proposal on the ballot. The way to deal with a bad proposal is to keep it off the ballot.

We should also encourage others to in turn educate those within their circles and make the same admonition about refusing to sign the petitions. Pastors and church leaders, you can be very instrumental in getting the word out about this to your church members. Grassroots efforts like this can grow exponentially and be very effective in reaching critical mass.

There are those who encourage a more aggressive style of “decline to sign” campaign. This involves being present at locations where canvassers are gathering signatures on petitions, holding signs telling folks not to sign the petitions and trying to speak to those people in an effort to dissuade them from signing.

Given the passion that is often felt by individuals on both sides of these kinds of activities, confrontations — unintended though they might be initially — can occur with this style of decline to sign approach and almost never bodes well for either side. Often, when these encounters take place, the media coverage is not always evenhanded and pro-lifers can be made to look like the bad guys. For these reasons, we are not recommending this more aggressive style of decline to sign.