Abortion rights advocates in Arkansas were cautiously optimistic Tuesday evening that the state government would count the signatures of more than 100,000 residents who signed petitions in support of an anti-forced pregnancy constitutional amendment, after the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a limited order calling on the secretary of state to begin the process.
Secretary of State John Thurston, a Republican, moved earlier this month to disqualify the petition that advocates had spent months gathering signatures for, claiming organizers had failed to provide information about paid signature-gatherers who had worked on the campaign run by Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG).
On Tuesday evening, the court ruled that Thurston must begin “the initial count of signatures collected by volunteer canvassers according to A.C.A. 7-9-126(a),” but said nothing about whether signatures gathered by paid workers needed to be counted.
The order did not indicate whether Thurston is required to begin the second stage of the tallying process, in which his team would verify that the signatures are accurate and belong to Arkansas voters.
That stage would begin a “cure” period during which AFLG would be allowed to continue collecting signatures.
AFLG turned in more than 101,000 signatures in time for the July 5 deadline, including an estimated 87,382 that were collected by volunteers and 14,143 gathered by paid workers, according to the Arkansas Times.
The state requires a petition for a constitutional amendment to have at least 90,704 signatures to qualify for the November election ballots — so if Thurston is required to count only the signatures collected by volunteers and does not have to initiate the cure period, AFLG’s petition may fall short.
The state Supreme Court did leave open the possibility of an additional ruling on the matter, saying the panel “reserves the right to issue further orders and proceed in accordance with state law.”
Despite the uncertainty, AFLG said in a statement that “the will of the people won” this round of the fight to ensure Arkansas residents can vote for abortion rights in November.
“On behalf of 101,000 Arkansas voters, 800 volunteers, and the AFLG team, we thank the court for upholding democracy in Arkansas,” said the group. “We are heartened by this outcome, which honors the constitutional rights of Arkansans to participate in direct democracy, the voices of 101,000 Arkansas voters who signed the petition, and the work of hundreds of volunteers across the state who poured themselves into this effort.”
The amendment proposed by AFLG would state that the Arkansas government “shall not prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion services within 18 weeks of fertilization” or in the cases of rape, incest, or “fatal fetal anomaly.”
The pro-democracy group For AR People said the court’s ruling was “a good start” and noted that at least three of the court’s seven judges — Justices Courtney Hudson and Karen Baker and Chief Justice Dan Kemp — seemed “favorable to AFLG’s arguments” that the count, the verification process, and the cure period should commence.
Matt Campbell of the Arkansas Times pointed out that AFLG could legally continue gathering signatures as they would during the cure period, before one officially begins.
“Just because a cure period was not explicitly granted doesn’t mean AFLG cannot currently be gathering signatures,” said Campbell. “The cure period just officially starts the clock, but signatures can be collected before that clock starts and still be valid.”
AFLG said that although the matter is not entirely resolved, the court’s decision was “reflective of our state motto: ‘The People Rule.'”
“We look forward to that principle guiding the rest of the signature verification process,” the group said.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy