LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — Election officials in Arkansas on Wednesday rejected petitions submitted for a ballot measure on abortion rights. Organizers had hoped to put a ballot measure on abortion rights before voters in this overwhelmingly Republican state this fall.
The Secretary of State’s office rejected petitions submitted Friday by supporters of the proposal, saying the group had failed to file required statements about paid signature gatherers.
Organizers submitted more than 101,000 signatures on Friday. They needed at least 90,704 signatures from registered voters and a minimum number from 50 precincts.
In his letter to the organizers, Secretary of State John Thurston stated that even if his office accepted the signatures from volunteers, the total would be 87,382, less than the required number.
Arkansas for Limited Government, the group behind the proposed constitutional amendment, said it has submitted documentation and been in contact with the Secretary of State’s office throughout the process to ensure it complies with all rules and regulations.
“We will fight this ridiculous disqualification attempt with everything at our disposal,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “We will not give in.”
The measure would have prevented laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and would have allowed the procedure later in the pregnancy, in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or when there is a low probability that the fetus will survive birth.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights in a 2022 ruling, sparking a nationwide movement to let voters decide the issue on a state-by-state basis. An Arkansas law banning abortion went into effect when the court announced its ruling. Arkansas’ current ban allows abortions only to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
The proposal was seen as a test of support for abortion rights in a Republican state where senior politicians have made their opposition to abortion clear.
Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who opposed the measure, posted on social media platform X after the rejection that “the far-left pro-abortion movement in Arkansas today showed itself to be both immoral and incompetent.”
The ballot proposal did not receive support from national abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood because it would have allowed a ban on abortion starting at the 20th week of pregnancy.
The proposal faced stiff opposition from the state’s anti-abortion groups. One of those groups, the Family Council Action Committee, released the names of people collecting signatures in support of the proposal and announced that it would challenge the proposed constitutional amendment in court if it was put to a vote.
In his letter, Thurston cited an Arkansas state law that requires campaign companies to file statements identifying paid poll workers by name and indicating that the rules for collecting signatures have been explained to each paid poll worker.
