LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — After twice rejecting an organization’s attempt to place a referendum before Arkansas voters to repeal Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education overhaul, the state’s attorney general certified the more than 8,000-word ballot title on Monday.
In a news release, Attorney General Tim Griffin the popular name and ballot title of the proposed referendum by the Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students’, or CAPES, meets the legal guidelines for certification.
Because this ballot title largely cuts and pastes at great length from LEARNS, I cannot conclude that it is misleading,” Griffin said in a statement. “I have therefore certified it.”
Griffin went on to say that his certification doesn’t mean that the title meets all legal requirements – including that titles not be too lengthy or complex.
At 8,154 words and 16 pages, the attorney general said this ballot title would be the longest in Arkansas history “by a large margin.”
“The Court has cited length and complexity as major factors in rejecting ballot titles with 550, 587, 709 and 727 words,” Griffin said. “The Arkansas Supreme Court will be the sole arbiter of whether this ballot title is too lengthy and complex if it is challenged at a later stage in the referendum process.”
Now with Griffin’s certification, CAPES can begin gathering signatures for their ballot measure to repeal Act 237 of the Arkansas Legislature – better known as the LEARNS Act.
They’ll need to collect more than 54,000 signatures across 50 counties by August to appear on next year’s ballot.
Alexa Henning, Sanders’ communications director, said the governor campaigned on LEARNS and “promised to deliver bold, transformational reforms to our education system.”
“It’s ironic the same opponents of LEARNS that complained about reading 144 pages of a bill, now submitted a ballot title of more than 8,000 words, the longest in Arkansas history,” Henning said in a tweet. “The radical left are playing political games with our kids’ futures and sowing turmoil in schools.”
Following the news of the certification, CAPES encouraged all Arkansas citizens to to actively participate in the democratic process and sign the petition so that voters would have the “opportunity to approve or reject this underfunded and sometimes unfunded law designed to harm our most vulnerable schools.”
“I am incredibly proud of the hard work of our team and getting the approval from the Attorney General’s office,” CAPES’ Chair Veronica McClane said in a statement. “While I am excited to move forward with getting signatures for our petition, I am also disappointed the Attorney General feels our ballot title will be rejected by the Arkansas Supreme Court, even though he has the right to amend our submission as needed. The people deserve to be heard on this important issue, and we will continue to work to make that happen.”
The Arkansas LEARNS Act has been temporarily blocked by a Pulaski County judge after he sided with opponents who argue legislators didn’t follow correct procedures to enact the law immediately.
Opponents say the Legislature violated the Arkansas Constitution by not voting separately on the “emergency clause” that allows the law to take effect immediately. Without that clause, the law can’t take effect until later this summer.
On Friday, the Arkansas Supreme Court declined to block Judge Herbert Wright’s order preventing the state from enforcing LEARNS but said they would move quickly to consider an appeal of his decision.
The court gave both sides in the lawsuit until Wednesday to file briefs over the challenge to the order.
