Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas A Bill
2 95th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 398
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5 By: Senator C. Tucker
6 By: Representative Wooldridge
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8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING INITIATIVE
10 PETITIONS AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS; TO ALLOW A CURE
11 PERIOD FOR INSUFFICIENT SUBMISSIONS; AND FOR OTHER
12 PURPOSES.
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14
15 Subtitle
16 TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING
17 INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND REFERENDUM
18 PETITIONS; AND TO ALLOW A CURE PERIOD
19 FOR INSUFFICIENT SUBMISSIONS.
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21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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23 SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings.
24 The General Assembly finds that:
25 (1) When establishing the legislative branch of government in
26 the Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, the people of Arkansas reserved in the
27 first section of Arkansas Constitution, Article 5 the legislative powers of
28 initiative and referendum for themselves;
29 (2) Article 5, � 1 of the Arkansas Constitution specifically
30 states, in part, that the "first power reserved by the people is the
31 initiative" and the "second power reserved by the people is the referendum";
32 (3) Article 5, � 1 of the Arkansas Constitution also
33 specifically states, in part, that "If the Secretary of State ... shall
34 decide any petition to be insufficient, he or she shall without delay notify
35 the sponsors of such petition, and permit at least thirty (30) days from the
36 date of such notification ... for correction or amendment"; and
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1 (4) The General Assembly enacts this legislation to clarify the
2 intent and support the spirit of Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, � 1.
3
4 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 7-9-111, concerning the determination of
5 the sufficiency of a petition, is amended to add an additional subsection to
6 read as follows:
7 (j)(1) If, while ascertaining and declaring the sufficiency or
8 insufficiency of a statewide initiative petition or statewide referendum
9 petition, or the signatures in support of such a petition, the Secretary of
10 State determines that the petition, or signatures in support of the petition,
11 are insufficient for any reason, the Secretary of State shall immediately
12 notify the sponsor in writing through his or her designated agent and shall
13 identify the insufficiency.
14 (2) The sponsor shall have thirty (30) days from the date of the
15 delivery of the notice from the Secretary of State to cure the insufficiency
16 identified under subdivision (j)(1) of this section to the Secretary of
17 State.
18 (3) The Secretary of State shall ascertain and declare the
19 sufficiency or insufficiency of each petition or signature resubmitted under
20 subdivision (j)(2) of this section within ten (10) days of the resubmission
21 of the petition or signature and notify the sponsor whether the resubmitted
22 petition or signature is sufficient or insufficient.
23 (4) If the Secretary of State determines that the petition or
24 any number of signatures resubmitted under subdivision (j)(2) of this section
25 are sufficient, he or she shall proceed with the processing of the petition
26 or with the counting of signatures that were not counted due to the
27 determination of insufficiency by the Secretary of State.
28 (5) For all signatures determined to be insufficient under
29 subdivision (j)(1) of this section, if feasible, the Secretary of State shall
30 also immediately notify an individual who signed the petition that his or her
31 signature was found to be insufficient.
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33 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code � 7-9-126(b), concerning verification of
34 signatures, is amended to read as follows:
35 (b) A Except as provided in � 7-9-111(j), a petition part and all
36 signatures appearing on the petition part shall not be counted for any
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SB398
1 purpose by the official charged with verifying the signatures, including the
2 initial count of signatures, if one (1) or more of the following is true:
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4 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code � 7-9-126(d), concerning the initial count of
5 signatures, is amended to read as follows:
6 (d) If Except as provided in � 7-9-111(j), if the initial count of
7 signatures under this section is less than the designated number of
8 signatures required by the Arkansas Constitution and statutory law in order
9 to certify the measure for the ballot and the deadline for filing petitions
10 has passed, the official charged with verifying the signatures shall declare
11 the petition insufficient and shall not accept and file any additional
12 signatures to cure the insufficiency of the petition on its face.
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3 03/06/2025 9:51:51 AM SSS007Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.