LITTLE ROCK — Secretary of State Mark Martin is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit trying to block from the November ballot a proposal to expand alcohol sales to all 75 of the state's counties.
Martin's office on Tuesday responded to the lawsuit filed last week by Citizens for Local Rights, which argues the state used the wrong deadline for accepting petitions to place the alcohol measure on the November ballot. The group argues that the state should have used July 4 as the deadline, rather than July 7. Martin last month certified the measure for the November ballot.
Martin cited a 1999 law that allows election officials to rely on the next business day if a deadline falls on a holiday.