Arkansas lawmakers are demanding an investigation into the paper ballot petition that has been circulated across nine counties for the use of paid, out-of-state canvassers. According to the state law, paid canvassers must be Arkansas residents.
The meeting was tense as the Joint Performance Review Committee gathered Monday to allow lawmakers to question both county officials and supporters of the paper ballot petition. Lawmakers like State Senator Mark Johnson (R) from District 17 highlighted discrepancies found in petition documents.
“When abuses like this are brought to our attention, we want to get to the bottom of it,” Johnson said.
The push for paper ballots gained popularity among conservatives in Arkansas and beyond, driven by concerns about the security of electronic voting machines. The petition for the “Hand-Marked, Hand-Counted Paper Ballot Ordinance of 2024” has been submitted to several counties, with only Independence County accepting it for the upcoming November ballot.
Concerns arose among county clerks and lawmakers when inconsistencies in signature collection sheets were discovered, including some containing out-of-state addresses that were later altered to direct to a Conway hotel’s address.
“It’s pretty clear from the paperwork in front of us that someone altered a very critical document,” Johnson said.
State Representative David Ray (R) from District 69 and vice chair of the Joint Performance Review Committee, added, “We had three notaries public swear and affirm under oath that those forms were not redacted when they were notarized, which means they were altered after the fact.”
Lawmakers suspect the ballot committee Restore Election Integrity Arkansas(REIA) is responsible for these potential violations. REIA is affiliated with the Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative, a nonprofit advocating for paper ballots.
“They were using out-of-state canvassers to gather petitions, which is against Arkansas law,” Ray said. “They were bringing in people from Arizona and other states, putting them up in hotel rooms in Conway, and saying that they were Arkansas residents. Now, that just doesn’t even pass the smell test.”
Additionally, lawmakers raised concerns about REIA’s financial practices.
“This group was spending tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to collect these petitions and they were not reporting where any of it came from and where any of it went, and that’s also against Arkansas law,” Ray continued.
The Joint Performance Review Committee has referred the matter to county prosecutors and the Attorney General.
“We know that there are many opportunities for some entities to cheat our initiative and referendum process, so we’re going to try and clean it up,” Johnson said.
Several committee members expressed intentions to pursue stricter ballot initiative regulations in the upcoming January session.
“I just want to make clear to everyone that this is not about paper ballotsI tend to lean toward preferring paper ballots, but that’s irrelevant to this. We think Arkansas initiative and referendum processwhich is over 100 years old and is outlined by Amendment 7 of the Arkansas Constitutionis for Arkansans,” Johnson added. “And we are very jealous of the fact that we’ve seen in recent years many out-of-state entities that have come in to necessitate something that they want out of our state… so we’re very protective of that initiative and referendum process.”
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI