Abortion amendment continues ballot push, two other measures shift focus to 2026

Little Rock OB-GYN Dr. Dina Epstein, a volunteer trained by Arkansans for Limited Government, tries to gather signatures for Arkansas’s abortion-rights ballot initiative. (Courtesy of Dina Epstein)

It’s been a busy week for direct democracy in Arkansas since the period for submitting signatures for proposed ballot initiatives ended last Friday.

The biggest news came Wednesday when Secretary of State John Thurston rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to expand abortion access in the state because of missing paperwork. Arkansans for Limited Government, which delivered a letter to Thurston’s office Thursday, argued it did submit the documents in question and vowed to challenge the disqualification.

Two other amendments proposing to improve medical marijuana patient access and require a local vote on new casinos are awaiting formal certification. Groups behind both efforts said they submitted sufficient signatures. Secretary of State spokesperson Chris Powell said Thursday staff will continue the intake process on the measures until sometime next week, at which point signature verification will begin.

Arkansas abortion amendment supporters challenge Secretary of State’s rejection

The Secretary of State’s office has 30 days to count signatures and notify sponsors when their petition has been deemed sufficient or insufficient. Proposed constitutional amendments must collect 90,704 signatures from at least 50 counties to qualify for the ballot. A 2023 state law that’s being challenged in court increased the threshold from 15 to 50 counties.

Sponsors may submit additional signatures if the initial submission includes 75% of the overall required signatures and 75% of the required number from 50 counties. Aug. 22 is the ballot certification deadline for all candidates and sufficient ballot issues to be certified to the counties so they can print their ballots, Powell said.

Meanwhile, supporters of two measures addressing government transparency and eliminating the sales tax on feminine hygiene products refiled their proposals with the attorney general’s office this week for the 2026 ballot after failing to collect sufficient signatures for the 2024 election.

State law gives the attorney general 10 business days to accept or reject the ballot titles for the proposed measures, both of which contain language virtually identical to what they submitted for the 2024 cycle (except for new effective dates).

While there’s no start date for when a group can begin collecting signatures for a statewide ballot measure, Powell said it’s not common to start the process this early for the next cycle. However, it has been done several times in the past, he said.

Tampon tax

The attorney general’s office received a proposed initiated act to eliminate the sales tax for feminine hygiene products and diapers on Monday. If it qualifies for the ballot and voters approve it in November 2026, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

Shannie Jackson, leader of the Arkansas Period Poverty Project and chair of the eponymous ballot question committee, said she knew on July 4 they would fall short of the signature requirement, but decided to submit petitions anyway to be counted.

The proposal received 43,831 of the required 72,563 signatures, according to an affidavit filed with the Secretary of State’s office. The group collected signatures from all 75 counties, but only met the minimum requirements in 19, Jackson said.

Starting the process now gives supporters more time to collect signatures and find additional canvassers, she said. Arkansas Period Poverty Project raised about $2,700 over eight months, according to financial disclosure documents , and relied on 65 registered volunteers to gather signatures, she said.

“When they say it takes a million dollars to pull this off, that is true,” Jackson said.

Supporters of various ballot measures worked together to collect signatures this cycle and through that networking, Jackson said she’s identified new people to expand her volunteer base.

It was hard, but walking into the Capitol and hearing those people cheering for us, I had a new mindset about it — that we didn’t just fail, we educated 43,000 people on an issue that we’ve been fighting six years now.

– Shannie Jackson, leader of the Arkansas Period Poverty Project

In the meantime, Jackson said supporters will work on legislation with lawmakers like Ozark Republican Rep. Aaron Pilkington, who in 2021 proposed a bill to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales tax that died in committee.

Though there’s more of an appetite for this type of measure now, Pilkington said he couldn’t find enough support this year for a bill modeled after the proposed feminine hygiene ballot measure.

Jackson said they discussed introducing legislation during April’s fiscal session, but a study estimated the proposal would cost around $2 million in state revenue for feminine hygiene products and around $26 million for the diapers.

Adding diapers to the estimate ballooned the cost, Pilkington said, and with a special session to cut income taxes looming, the support wasn’t there.

“It came down to priorities, unfortunately,” he said.

Income tax cuts approved by the General Assembly in June are expected to reduce the state’s general revenue by a cumulative $483.5 million in fiscal year 2025 and by $322.2 million each fiscal year afterward, according to the state Department of Finance and Administration’s fiscal impact report .

Jackson’s argument against cost concerns is to look at the bigger picture. If people can afford to live in a hygienic way, they can continue being contributing members of society because they aren’t missing work or “racking up hospital bills from getting infections from improper use or using [other] things,” she said.

Pilkington said he’ll revisit the topic during the 2025 legislative session.

“Some of these things take time, unfortunately, and so we’ll just keep pushing at it,” he said.

Jackson said they’d also like to work with Rep. Denise Ennett, D-Little Rock, in the upcoming session. Ennett sponsored Act 933 of 2021 , which allows public schools to use funding to provide free feminine hygiene products to students. The goal is to amend the law to make it a requirement, Jackson said.

Ennett said Friday they’ve discussed the topic, but nothing has been confirmed. The Little Rock Democrat said she’s interested in pursuing some type of legislation because the cost of menstrual products and diapers affects entire families.

“It’s a relief for families who have limited resources to get the essentials for a family,” she said.

In preparation for the 2025 legislative session, Jackson said they’d like to collect personal testimony to help explain the importance of their work because “representatives listen to the people.”

This was Jackson’s first time working through the ballot initiative process, and instead of feeling defeated by missing the signature goal, she said she was buoyed by the support of onlookers while submitting signatures at the state Capitol last week.

“It was hard, but walking into the Capitol and hearing those people cheering for us, I had a new mindset about it — that we didn’t just fail, we educated 43,000 people on an issue that we’ve been fighting six years now,” she said.

Government transparency

Arkansans for a Free Press submitted the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment to the attorney general on Wednesday. The proposed constitutional amendment would make government transparency a constitutional right.

It would also require two-thirds of the Arkansas House and Senate to approve changes to the government transparency law, which would then be sent to voters. In emergency situations, a law would go into effect with 90% approval from both chambers but still be subject to a statewide vote later.

If it makes the 2026 ballot and is approved by voters, the amendment would become effective on Nov. 4, 2026.

Arkansas Press Association forms committee to support government transparency

In addition to more time, Arkansas Press Association Executive Director Ashley Wimberley, who serves as adviser to Arkansans for a Free Press (the APA’s ballot question committee), said starting the direct democracy process now provides an opportunity to gather signatures during cooler fall weather. The “sweltering” summer heat prevented some volunteers from participating this year, she said.

“We want the people to be part of this campaign and to help us push this forward, but in doing that we need way more time to have a volunteer effort that can get there by the finish line, which is exactly why we’re starting early,” she said.

Canvassers collected 119,480 signatures combined for both the proposed constitutional amendment and its companion initiated act, she said. Just over 60,000 were for the amendment, which qualified in 35 counties. The remaining signatures were for the act, which met the minimum threshold in 50 counties, she said.

The amendment and act spawned from last September’s special session when state lawmakers supported the governor’s effort to alter the state’s Freedom of Information Act, shielding from public access records concerning the planning or provision of security services to the governor or state officials.

This year’s effort was led by Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, a ballot question committee that Arkansans for a Free Press partnered with after forming in May.

“There’s literally nothing more important to government of, by and for the people than knowing what the government is doing,” Arkansas Citizens for Transparency chair Nate Bell said.

Bell said Friday he’s “obviously disappointed” they didn’t qualify for the 2024 ballot, but he anticipates members of the “closely aligned” groups — Arkansas Citizens for Transparency and Arkansans for a Free Press — will continue working together in pursuit of a common goal.

It’s “full speed ahead” ahead on the amendment, but Bell said the initiated act is on hold pending the 2025 legislative session, which could affect the content of a potential act.

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Wimberley said some legislators have reached out to discuss possibly incorporating components of their measures into laws, an option she said she’s open to. FOIA is important for the press to do its job, Wimberley said, but “government transparency should be a right of all Arkansans.”

‘It’s essential for the press because we inform the public, so it’s not something we’re ever going to give in on or let go of,” she said.

While the 2024 campaign was tiring, Wimberley said it was uplifting to see how many people gave their time and money to the measure, which received support from across the political spectrum.

“I think everybody on the committee can say it’s exhausting. At the same time it’s shown me the level of care that a lot of people in our state have around government transparency and how much it matters to them,” she said.

Wimberley said she anticipates having strategic meetings in the next couple of weeks to get a framework in place before moving forward with the 2026 campaign.

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