Arkansas secretary of state halts November abortion law amendment referendum

Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston rejected an effort to include a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in a referendum to be held in the state in November. Thurston alleged that the organizers failed to meet the requirements to move forward with the initiative. 

Specifically, the secretary of state explained that the progressive organization carrying the proposal, Arkansans for Limited Government, failed to submit an affidavit identifying by name the paid promoters and confirming that those promoters had received proper training on how to collect signatures.

"The first part of our review is to ensure that the sponsor has complied with all statutory requirements for submitting a petition," Thurston wrote in a letter reviewed by The New York Times. 

In that regard, Thurston detailed that if signatures collected by paid promoters are not taken into account, that brings the total number of signatures down to 87,382, below the mandatory minimum of 90,704 set by state rules to carry the initiative forward.

Meanwhile, Arkansans for Limited Government rejected the decision and maintained that it did the entire process under the accompaniment of the secretary of state's office to comply with all procedures established in state rules. 

"In fact, the Secretary of State’s office supplied us with the affidavit paperwork, which we used. Until today, we had no reason not to trust that the paperwork they supplied us was correct and complete. ... Asserting now that we didn’t provide required documentation regarding paid canvassers is absurd and demonstrably, undeniably incorrect," wrote Arkansans for Limited Government in a message on X. 

"Arkansans for Limited Government is alarmed and outraged by Secretary Thurston’s attempt to disqualify the Arkansas Abortion Amendment from November’s ballot," the organization added.