Arkansas Supreme Court Denies Alcohol Petition Challenge
by October 17, 2014 12:44 am 101 views
Matt Mershon with our content partner, KATV Ch. 7, reports:
The Arkansas Supreme Court denied a petition Thursday to strike a statewide liquor sales initiative from the November ballot.
Justices issued a unanimous opinion written by Associate Justice Karen Baker.
Citizens for Local Rights had filed the action challenging “Issue 4” with the Supreme Court on September 5. The group had challenged the timeliness and sufficiency of the “Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Amendment.”
Justices denied the challenge of timeliness because the election deadline at issue occurred on a legal holiday – July 4, 2014. Therefore the election law deadline must be the next day, which is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
In regard to the legal sufficiency of the title of the ballot item, justices penned, “On the one hand, it is not required that the ballot title contain a synopsis of the amendment in statute. It is sufficient for the title to be complete enough to convey and intelligible idea of the scope and import of the proposed law.”
Justices followed by saying, “We conclude that while inside the voting booth, the voters will be able to reach an intelligent and informed decision for or against ‘The Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Amendment’ and understand the consequences of his or her vote based on the ballot title.”
To read the full opinion or the comments from KATV’s web site or to watch the video report, click here.