An Abortion advocacy group has fallen short of the number of signatures required to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot in Arkansas. The measure would legalize abortion up to the 18th week of pregnancy. The secretary of state’s office had stopped the counting after saying the group, known as Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG), did not turn in the proper paperwork for about 14,000 signatures collected by paid canvassers, not volunteers.
The AFLG appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Arkansas, which ordered a full count of the signatures collected by volunteers. The group collected 87,675 signatures, falling short of the over 90,000 signature threshold to put the amendment on the ballot.
Now the AFLG and its supporters must wait to hear whether they will be given an extra 30-day cure period to get more signatures. That requires a 75% of the threshold signature count. But as Josie Lenora, with Little Rock Public Radio reports, it’s unclear if the AFLG will have that opportunity.
A statement from Attorney General Tim Griffin seemed to imply otherwise: “The Secretary of State fulfilled the order of the Arkansas Supreme Court, did so ahead of schedule, and confirmed that the abortion advocates did not turn in enough qualifying signatures to meet the statutory threshold for a cure period."
UPDATE: On Friday [July 26], The state Supreme Court issued an order that AFLG’s case has not been dismissed. Both parties in the case must submit briefs in the case by Friday, August 2, 2024, at 4:30 p.m.
