Protect AR Rights today submitted 108,837 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office in support of putting the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment on the ballot this November.

The proposed constitutional amendment is a response to years of high jinks from the legislature (with periodic assists from the state Supreme Court) that create various bureaucratic hoops that ballot measures like this one have to jump through. Ostensibly meant to fight fraud, the real goal is to make it as hard as possible to get something on the ballot. The GOP-dominated legislature doesn’t want any pesky interference from the people.

Here is the text of the proposed amendment, which ditches some of the more onerous requirements that have made ballot initiatives incredibly expensive and prey to capricious interpretations of ticky-tacky rules.

The signatures represent a crucial first step for the Ballot Measure Rights amendment. In order to put the issue before voters, the group must collect 90,704 legitimate signatures. Some of the signatures they’ve already collected will be thrown out when the Secretary of State’s office reviews the submission (for example, if it turns out that a signatory was not a registered voter).

Once some signatures are tossed, if the remaining total is below 90,704, it must reach 75% of that threshold (68,028) in order to qualify for a “cure” period — 30 days to collect more signatures (the group can begin collecting new signatures even before the 30-day period in the hopes of building up a buffer if necessary).

From the group’s press release:

Over the past several months, volunteers and coalition partners collected signatures from every single county in the state. The campaign was powered by thousands of Arkansans who believe that the people should have a say in their own government. 

“Today’s submission is a testament to what people can accomplish when they come together to defend democracy,” said Dara Gaines, Ph.D., Field Director for the campaign. “We’re deeply grateful to every volunteer, coalition member, community organizer, and voter who made today possible.”

“We’re celebrating today, but we’re not finished yet,” Dr. Gaines said. “We encourage supporters to keep collecting signatures over the Fourth of July weekend and to donate so we’re prepared for the next phase, if needed.”