A ballot proposal aimed at extending civil-rights protections to gay Arkansans and others took a step forward Tuesday.
Arkansas' Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge approved a name and ballot title for a proposed initiated act that would extend the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993's protections against discrimination to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity."
Rutledge's opinion noted that the approval of the language is not an endorsement of the petition but said that it satisfied certain requirements to be presented to the public.
If petition supporters obtain enough signatures, it will appear on the 2016 ballot.
That petition's approval was preceded by the approval of another ballot title and proposed name for an initiated act that would alter the number of signatures needed in a county to force a local alcohol vote.
Rutledge has approved language for An Act Concerning Local Option (Wet-Dry) Elections. That petition proposes to reduce the number of signatures of qualified electors in a county or town needed to call for such an election.
If passed in 2016, that figure would fall from 38 percent to 20 percent.
Metro on 04/01/2015