Bill > SB398

This bill amends Arkansas law to clarify and strengthen the process for initiative and referendum petitions by establishing a formal 30-day cure period for insufficient petition submissions. Specifically, the bill requires the Secretary of State to immediately notify petition sponsors in writing if a petition is found to be insufficient, identifying the exact reasons for insufficiency. Upon receiving this notification, sponsors will have 30 days to correct or amend the petition. The Secretary of State must then review the resubmitted petition within 10 days and determine whether it has been sufficiently remedied. The bill is rooted in the Arkansas Constitution's Article 5, Section 1, which reserves the powers of initiative and referendum for citizens and mandates that petition sponsors be given an opportunity to correct insufficiencies. Additionally, the bill includes a provision that, when feasible, the Secretary of State should notify individual signers whose signatures were found to be insufficient. These changes aim to make the petition process more transparent and provide petition sponsors a clearer pathway to meeting legal requirements for placing measures on the ballot.

Government Affairs

https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=sb398&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R