League of Women Voters files lawsuit to stop laws aimed at ballot initiative process

The League of Women Voters of Arkansas (LWVAR) filed a lawsuit Monday (April 21) in U.S. District Court to block six Arkansas laws that will impact the state’s long-standing ballot initiative process.

The lawsuit claims the new legislation violates protected political speech and names Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester as the defendant in his official capacity with the state.

The new laws will force potential signees to read the text of a ballot initiative in full, out loud – or have a petitioner read the initiative aloud – before signing. They require prospective signees show petitioners their photo identification. The new laws will also require canvassers to inform potential signees of criminal penalties for fraudulently signing a petition. The new laws enable the state Attorney General to have more control over ballot initiative language, and the Secretary of State’s office would have more latitude to disqualify signatures.

“Let’s be clear: these laws spell the death of direct democracy in Arkansas,” said Bonnie Miller, president of the League of Women Voters of Arkansas. “For decades, Arkansans of all political persuasions have utilized the ballot initiative process to pass popular reforms in our state. Now, the legislature wants to kill the process. It’s not only anti-voter but is also completely illegal. We urge the court to strike down these laws and reaffirm Arkansans’ right to direct democracy.”

LWVAR alleges that these laws violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution.

During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers passed six bills that are referenced in the lawsuit. Supporters of the measures claimed the changes were needed to ensure stronger integrity of the process, nullify bad actors who forge signatures, and put new guardrails in the process of collecting signatures for ballot initiatives.

Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, was the lead Senate sponsor. He is also a candidate for Secretary of State in 2026.

“We have increasing outside influence in this process,” said Hammer, during committee hearings on the bills.

Secretary of State Jester said, “From day one, I have promised to protect Arkansas’ electoral processes. The petition system has been filled with fraud and bad actors for too long. These laws are basic, commonsense protections, and we look forward to fighting for them.”

“These laws aren’t just bad policy — they’re unconstitutional,” said David Couch, legal counsel for the League of Women Voters of Arkansas and leader of several successful ballot initiative efforts. “They weaponize bureaucracy to suppress citizen participation and violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by both the Arkansas and U.S. Constitutions. If left in place, they will permanently dismantle the ballot initiative process in Arkansas. The courts must step in.”

In 2020, Arkansas voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult to get future initiatives on the statewide ballot. Arkansas is one of the only southern states to allow citizens to directly vote on issues that impact them via ballot initiatives.