The Arkansas Supreme Court issued an order on Tuesday night directing the state to begin counting signatures collected by volunteers in support of placing an abortion-rights measure on the ballot. The court's decision, made by the majority-conservative justices, introduced a level of uncertainty regarding the fate of the proposed ballot initiative.
The court's one-page order did not definitively address the lawsuit challenging the state's rejection of petitions for the measure but mandated an initial count of signatures from volunteers by 9 a.m. on Monday.
Earlier in July, election officials had rejected the signatures submitted by Arkansans for Limited Government, the group advocating for the measure, citing incomplete documentation related to hired signature gatherers. The group contested this decision, asserting that the submitted documents were in compliance with the law and requesting additional time to provide any necessary additional paperwork.
With over 101,000 signatures submitted by the July 5 deadline, the initiative had the potential to qualify for the ballot, surpassing the required threshold of 90,704 signatures from registered voters across a minimum of 50 counties.
The proposed amendment, if approved, would not establish abortion as a constitutional right but rather serve as a gauge of support for abortion rights in Arkansas, a predominantly Republican state with current restrictions on abortion. The amendment seeks to prohibit laws banning abortion within the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman's health or life, or fetal nonviability.
The dispute between Arkansans for Limited Government and election officials centers on whether the petition submissions adhered to a 2013 state law requiring campaigns to provide detailed information about paid canvassers. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, which devolved abortion rights to the states, has spurred efforts to address the issue at the state level through voter referendums.
