(LITTLE ROCK, AR)—Sponsors of one proposed statewide ballot initiative submitted a petition to the Secretary of State’s office for verification by today’s deadline.  Secure Arkansas proposes an amendment to prevent persons unlawfully present in the United States from receiving certain public benefits.

                                                                                                                                                                    & nbsp;  Amendment 7 of the Arkansas Constitution prescribes the process by which voters may propose ballot initiatives.   Proposed constitutional amendments require the signatures of 10% of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election, while initiated acts require 8%.  For the 2010 election year, sponsors must submit 77,468 petition signatures for proposed constitutional amendments and 61,974 for initiated acts.  The Secretary of State has 30 days from the date of submission to verify signatures up to 10% above the required number. 

 

If a petition is found not to contain the required number of valid signatures, the sponsor has 30 days from the date of notification of insufficiency to collect additional signatures or submit proof that rejected signatures should be counted.  If the petition is determined to be sufficient, the statewide initiative will appear on the general election ballot on November 2.

 

Petition signatures will be verified in the order in which they are received.  The Secretary of State will certify the sufficiency of the petitions upon completion, and will publish the approved amendments in newspapers of general circulation in each county.  The full ballot titles of the proposed issues can also be found at www.votenaturally.org.

 

Sponsors of three other proposed ballot issues with approved popular names and ballot titles did not submit petitions by today’s deadline.