What looked like potential ballot issues for Arkansas voters this year might not be after all.
There is a new move afoot to block a proposal that would effectively turn all of Arkansas "wet" by allowing alcohol sales throughout the state -- even in jurisdictions that have voted themselves "dry." That would include 38 of the state's 75 counties.
Rather than require local elections (after difficult petition drives), the proposed constitutional amendment would simply legalize alcohol sales in all 75 counties. The proposal is one of two recently submitted for certification to the secretary of state after proponents gathered enough preliminary signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Neither really has qualified yet because not all of the signatures submitted proved valid.
The secretary of state's office notified the petitioning organization, Let Arkansas Decide, that its petitions to allow statewide alcohol sales were short of the 78,133 valid signatures needed for certification and that it would have until Aug. 18 to submit additional signatures.
The group needs to find an additional 17,133 valid signatures, so the issue is still far from the ballot.
But a group called Let Local Communities Decide for Themselves has now asked Secretary of State Mark Martin not to put it on the November ballot for a totally different reason -- one that could affect other petition drive as well.
The reason the anti-wet group cited is that the Arkansas Constitution requires submission of petitions four months before the general election. With a Nov. 4 election, that group argues the petitions should have been submitted by July 4, not July 7 when they were turned in.
July 7 was the date the state set as this year's deadline. It was the Monday after Independence Day, the first workday after the state and federal holiday and the usual alternative when a holiday disrupts a government deadline.
An attorney for the anti-wet group wrote Martin's office that she was unaware of any legal authority that allows the filing of a petition to be delayed. She wants the petition tossed.
Martin is reviewing the matter, but his office already gave the petitioners for this and another ballot issue additional time to gather more signatures.
For the record, a spokesman for the pro-wet group said he's not overly concerned, even as the anti-wet folks said they will likely sue if the petitioners do gather enough signatures and Martin certifies it for the ballot.
Remember, opponents to ballot issues almost always try to knock issues off the ballot through the courts. It is easier and cheaper to sue than to defeat an issue with votes, especially an issue that might prove popular with the majority of voters.
Supporters say they will have the additional signatures in time and maybe enough of them to ward off other challenges.
Another ballot question, this one to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas, is much closer to its signature requirement. Unlike the alcohol issue, which is a constitutional amendment, the minimum wage change is an initiated act, requiring only 62,507 valid signatures for ballot access.
Give Arkansas a Raise Now, the group behind the wage hike, needs to find only a couple of thousand more valid signatures by the mid-August deadline.
That's all but sure to happen. The proposal would gradually increase the hourly minimum wage in Arkansas from $6.25 to $8.50 by 2017.
Still, if the anti-wet folks persuade the secretary of state (or possibly the Supreme Court) that the July 7 deadline was invalid, both the issues would be dead for this year's November ballot.
The deadline was the same for both. The reasoning must be the same, too, whether it comes from Martin's office or ultimately from the courts.
BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST AND LONGTIME JOURNALIST IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
Commentary on 07/23/2014