Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107

Section 7-9-107 requires sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment to submit its popular name and ballot title to the Attorney General for approval.

Ferstl v. McCuen · filed 1988-10-12

The sponsors of the amendment have complied with Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107 (1987) by submitting both the proposed popular name and ballot title to the Attorney General for approval. Although Amendment 7 itself does not require such approval, Amendment 7 does state that laws may be enacted to facilitate its operation. The above statute was enacted pursuant to this authority. There is no allegation that the statute is unconstitutional. It is therefore presumed valid.

Section 7-9-107 requires a ballot title to briefly and concisely state the purpose of the proposed measure.

Gaines v. McCuen · filed 1988-10-12

Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107, the only statutory law concerning sufficiency of ballot titles, provides that the ballot title “shall briefly and concisely state the purpose of the proposed measure.”

Section 7-9-107(e)'s early ballot-title review procedure is unconstitutional because the court may review an initiative petition only after certification of both its ballot title and signatures.

Finn v. McCuen · filed 1990-10-26(e)(1)(B)(i)-(ii)

We hold that § 7-9-107(e)(B)(i) and (ii) are unconstitutional because they purport to permit this court to review a decision of the secretary of state with respect to the ballot title portion of a petition, and the only authority given this court by Amendment 7 is the authority to review the secretary of state’s certification of a “petition” which includes both the ballot title and the signatures.

Before an initiative petition is circulated for signatures, its sponsors must submit the original draft, proposed legislative or ballot title, and popular name to the Attorney General; an immaterial editorial deletion from the draft did not invalidate circulation.

Porter v. McCuen · filed 1992-10-09(a)

Petitioners maintain the petitions should not have been circulated for signatures when the text of the proposal differed from the draft submitted to the Attorney General for approval and the Attorney General failed to include any reference to this paragraph in the ballot title. They contend'that when § 7-9-107 and § 7-9-106(a) are read together, the law does not permit a sponsor to submit one version to the Attorney General and a different version to the public. ... We might agree if there were any materiality to the deleted segment. But we find none. It is an unnumbered, parenthetical aside in the nature of an editorial comment. It does not legislate or affect the proposed measure one way or the other. It is a mere appendage tacked on after the repealing clause which, from all appearances, was not intended to be any part of the measure. Indeed, that is how the Attorney General saw it and simply ignored it when revising and approving the ballot title. We regard it as nothing more than a projection of what might be generated in the way of increased revenues and should never have been included in the first place.

Section 7-9-107(a) requires sponsors to submit the measure to the Attorney General before circulating it for signatures, but it does not require them to wait for the Attorney General's approval before gathering signatures.

Conrad Reynolds And Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative, Inc., Individually and on Behalf of Restore Election Integrity · filed 2024-05-30(a)

But that’s not how the statute reads. The statute does not hinder petitioners’ ability to gather signatures. It requires only that the measure be submitted to the Attorney General first: “Before any initiative petition or referendum petition ordering a vote upon any amendment or act shall be circulated for obtaining signatures of petitioners, the sponsors shall submit the original draft with the Attorney General.” Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107(a) (emphasis added). Petitioners admit they have submitted the original drafts to the Attorney General. Whether they wait for the Attorney General’s approval on their submitted language is for them to decide. Whether they find it helpful is up to them.

Section 7-9-107(b) gives the Attorney General discretion to approve and certify the sponsors’ proposed ballot title and popular name or to substitute and certify a more suitable and correct one that briefly and concisely states the measure’s purpose.

Hoyle v. Priest · filed 1999-07-30(b)

The initiative process created by the State of Arkansas has not reserved to initiative sponsors the right to have their proposed popular name and ballot title certified for placement on the initiative petition. Instead, the applicable law provides that the sponsors shall submit a proposed ballot title and popular name to the Attorney General for review. “The Attorney General shall, within ten (10) days, approve and certify or shall substitute and certify a more suitable and correct ballot title and popular name for [the] amendment or act. The ballot title so submitted or supplied by the Attorney General shall briefly and concisely state the purpose of the proposed measure.” Ark.Code Ann. § 7-9-107(b)(Repl.l993). Clearly, the Attorney General has discretion to substitute and certify a popular name and ballot title that in his best judgment meets the stated requirements.