Secretary of State Martin Eyeing Investigation Of Petition Signatures
by July 27, 2012 7:59 am 166 views
With eyebrows raised by the high invalidation rate of signatures on several potential ballot issues, the Secretary of State's office said Thursday it may call for an investigation after a grace period to collect more signatures is completed.
Talk Business blogger Jason Tolbert reported earlier this week on the discrepancies found in multiple ballot petition pages, which show likely forged signatures and highlight questionable collection practices.
Three groups aiming to get issues on the November ballot turned in petitions with invalid signatures ranging from 44% to 71%.
John Lyon with our content partner, The Arkansas News Bureau, reports:
State police could be asked to probe possible forging of signatures, duplicated names and signatures of people not registered to vote on petitions submitted by two groups seeking to have ballot measures certified for the November general election ballot, according to Secretary of State Mark Martin spokesman Alex Reed.
No decision is likely until after groups given extra time to gather signatures have submitted them and they are counted, Reed said.
“We’re trying to finish up what we have to finish up and then we will look at that,” he said.
Falsifying a petition is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable by imprisonment of up to 365 days and/or a fine of $2,500.