Arkansas Ballot Issues Newsletter

October 2021

Group Files Referendums To Challenge Split Districts

Voters should decide whether to keep voting boundaries Arkansas legislators set for the state's four U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 Census, according to a group circulating a petition to put the new redistricting map on the 2022 ballot.

Arkansans for a Unified Natural State filed ballot titles with the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office for two referendums. If successful, the referendums would ask Arkansas voters in November 2022 whether Acts 1114 and 1116 should go into effect.

The two acts are identical and represent congressional boundaries the House and Senate passed this fall. Typically legislators approve new congressional boundaries during their spring session. But U.S. Census Bureau delays caused Arkansas legislators to recess their spring session and come back this fall when Census data was available to discuss how to handle population loss and growth in different areas of the state.

The new boundaries, which split Pulaski County into three U.S. House of Representatives districts and Sebastian into two districts among other changes, are set to go into effect Jan. 14, 2022. (See a general overview of the new boundaries by clicking on SB743 on this Arkansas Democrat-Gazette map).

To qualify for the ballot - and delay the new boundaries from going into effect - Arkansans for a Unified Natural State must submit at least 53,491 voter signatures from across 15 counties by Jan. 13, 2022.

Read Referendum on Act 1114

Read Referendum on Act 1116

Arkansas is one of 15 states where citizens can propose statewide ballot issues for constitutional amendments, new state laws and referendums. The Arkansas Legislature also has the right to submit up to three constitutional amendments to voters on the statewide ballot.

As of Oct. 26, seven proposed ballot titles and two referendums have been filed with the Secretary of State's Office for the November 2022 ballot. Proposals from the legislature and those filed by citizen groups so far can be found below.

2022 Arkansas Legislative Proposals

Arkansas representatives and senators voted in spring 2021 to put the three proposed constitutional amendments listed below on the November 2022 General Election ballot. The Secretary of State's Office will assign issue numbers for these measures in the spring.

A constitutional amendment to reform certain measures presented to voters, to be known as the "Constitutional Amendment and Ballot Initiative Reform Amendment”

Read the proposal

See how legislators voted

A constitutional amendment to allow the General Assembly to convene in extraordinary session upon the issuance of a joint written proclamation of the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate or upon the submission of a written proclamation containing the signatures of at least 2/3 of the members of the House of Representatives and at least 2/3 of the members of the Senate to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate requesting that the General Assembly convene in extraordinary session

Read the proposal

See how legislators voted

A constitutional amendment to create the "Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment"

Read the proposal

See how legislators voted

2022 Citizen Initiative Proposals

Arkansas is one of 15 states where citizens have the right to put constitutional amendments, state laws and referendums on the ballot for voters to decide.

The citizen initiative process involves filing a ballot title with the Secretary of State's Office, collecting voter signatures across the state and submitting the petitions for verification. The Board of Election Commissioners also must approve the ballot title.

Referendums require voter signatures equaling 6% of the number of people who voted in the last governor's election. State laws require 8%, and constitutional amendments require 10%.

Submitted to the Secretary of State

Act 376 of 2019 requires ballot issue groups to submit a copy of their ballot title to the Secretary of State's Office before collecting voter signatures.

Ballot titles that have been filed for the 2022 ballot include:

Oct. 14, 2021 - Referendum Petition - HB1982/Act 1114 of 2021 - A referendum on Act 1114 of 2021 that set new boundaries for Arkansas' four U.S. Representatives districts.

Oct. 14, 2021 - Referendum Petition - SB743/Act 1116 of 2021 - A referendum on Act 1116 of 2021 that set new boundaries for Arkansas' four U.S. House of Representatives districts.

July 13, 2021 - A Constitutional Amendment to Repeal the Authorization for Casino Gaming in Pope County - A proposal to remove Pope County as one of the locations in Arkansas where casino gaming is allowed under a previous constitutional amendment was submitted by Larry Walker of Fair Play for Arkansas - 2022.

June 8, 2021 - An Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution Providing for the Elimination of Taxes Levied Under the Arkansas Constitution Upon Personal Property, Real Property, or Both Personal Property and Real Property - A proposal to eliminate certain taxes was submitted by the Committee to Eliminate Property Taxes From Arkansas.

May 25, 2021 - Arkansas Cannabis Industry Amendment - A proposal to make the cannabis industry legal in Arkansas was submitted by Clair Danner.

May 20, 2021 - The Arkansas Term Limits Amendment - A proposal to change term limits for state legislators was submitted by Arkansas Term Limits.

Feb. 4, 2021 - The Arkansas Township Amendment of 2022 - A proposal that would create another layer of local government - township assemblies - among other things was submitted by Academy of Democracy.

Jan. 5, 2021 - An Amendment Concerning Jurors' Rights - A proposal that would impact the legislature's ability to pass laws regarding jury awards in lawsuits over injury or death was submitted. The person who submitted the proposal did not provide their contact information to the Secretary of State's Office.

May 22, 2020 - The Arkansas Recreational Marijuana Amendment of 2022 - A proposal to legalize adult marijuana use and to allow certain marijuana convictions to be expunged was submitted by Arkansas True Grass.

Redistricting at the Local Level Webinar

The Public Policy Center hosted a panel discussion about redistricting at the local level in Arkansas. Find our fact sheet about redistricting and a recording of the webinar at the Extension website listed below.

Redistricting Website

The Public Policy Center was established in 2004 to provide Arkansans with timely, credible, unaligned and research-based information and education about public issues. Public issues are defined as pressing and emerging issues that involve multiple points of view and have widespread consequences.

Our goals are to:

Increase citizen knowledge, awareness and understanding of public issues;
Enhance public participation in decisions regarding public issues, and
Help citizens craft, evaluate and implement alternative solutions to public issues.

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