An initial tally from election officials filed with the state Supreme Court revealed that signatures collected by volunteers for an Arkansas abortion-rights measure may fall short of the required number to qualify for the ballot. The court ordered officials to count only the signatures collected by volunteers, excluding those gathered by paid canvassers.
The Arkansas secretary of state's office reported that 87,675 signatures were collected by volunteers, which is below the 90,704 signature threshold needed from registered voters. An additional 912 signatures could not be definitively attributed to either paid canvassers or volunteers.
