Arkansas abortion amendment supporters call Secretary of State marijuana ruling proof of bias

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A group working to place a ballot question before voters is calling out what it sees as bias in a recent Secretary of State ruling.

The supporter group Arkansans for Limited Government is pointing toward a Thursday letter by Secretary John Thurston to a group gathering signatures for a medical marijuana ballot question. In that letter, Thurston states that the group made errors in its original signature submission paperwork, and further signature submissions will be checked to ensure the paperwork is in place.

The marijuana group, Arkansans for Patient Access (AFPA) was given additional time after the July 5 deadline to gather signatures under what is called a “cure” period for ballot approval.

The signatures submitted by Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG) on July 5 were rejected by Thurston’s office on July 10 because they did not include the required paperwork. The office did not count the signatures due to this lack, meaning the group would not get its ballot question before voters.

AFLG appealed Thurston’s ruling to that state Supreme Court on July 16. Thurston’s Thursday letter to the marijuana group led to AFLG filing a revision to its July 16 pleading on Friday.

In the revised pleading, attorneys state that Thurston’s decision on AFPA shows that while he was willing to tolerate an omission by that group, he was not willing to tolerate the same omission by the abortion amendment group.

“AFLG’s response today to the Attorney General’s brief, which was filed last week, can be summed up quite succinctly: the facts and law are on our side,” a group spokesperson said. “What’s more, yesterday, the Secretary of State told our counterparts at Arkansans for Patient Access that their identical paperwork ‘errors’ are not disqualifying.”

The spokesperson continued that Thurston’s ruling made it “crystal clear” that the secretary was working to keep the AFLG’s work off the ballot “regardless of facts or law.”

“We’re furious, and Arkansans should be, too,” they concluded.

A response from Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office to the amended complaint said AFLG had violated Arkansas law by not submitting its paperwork and “is not entitled to any relief.”

“In short, AFLG’s briefing asks for a mulligan on its failure to comply with Arkansas law,” the response states. “This Court should reject that request and, applying the required strict-compliance analysis, deny relief.”

If AFLG prevails in court, voters in November will have an opportunity to make access to abortion part of the Arkansas constitution.

If the group prevails in court, voters in November will have an opportunity to make access to abortion part of the Arkansas constitution.

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