Arkansas lawmakers can change citizen-led amendments
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The Arkansas Supreme Court. Photo: Worth Sparkman/Axios
The Arkansas Supreme Court last week ruled that state lawmakers can change citizen-led constitutional amendments, reversing seven decades of precedent.
Why it matters: Following the decision, if two-thirds of each chamber agrees, legislators can amend or repeal constitutional amendments that were put on the ballot by Arkansans and approved by a majority of voters.
- That includes the state's medical marijuana amendment. The ruling may also open the door for changes to other voter-initiated amendments, like those that legalized casinos and created term limits.
The big picture: Arkansas is one of 18 states where voters can initiate an amendment to the state's constitution.
- Arkansas voters can change or reject laws enacted by the state Legislature through a citizen-initiated ballot process.
- Changes can be in the form of a proposed ballot initiative as a state statute (a change to a law) or a constitutional amendment (a more significant change to the state's constitution). Voters may also repeal legislation with a veto referendum.
- Petition signature requirements vary for each, ranging from nearly 55,000 for a referendum to about 91,000 for a constitutional amendment.
Yes, but: In recent years, Arkansas lawmakers have passed laws creating technicalities in the process that now all but require a group to be well funded to gather petition signatures.
- Some of these new laws are being challenged by groups through citizen-led constitutional amendments.
The latest: Prior to the ruling last week, the state's constitution had been interpreted to allow legislators to use a two-thirds vote to change voter-initiated state statutes, but not constitutional amendments.
What they're saying: "Two-thirds in the House and Senate is a bar that is extremely, extremely high," Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The other side: "I think it's going to be quite easy, in fact, to make changes," House Minority Leader Andrew Collins (D-Little Rock) told the newspaper.
"This is a massive increase in the power of the state Legislature," said Joshua Silverstein, professor at the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
What we're watching: Protect AR Rights and the League of Women Voters are working to get measures on the 2026 ballot to protect Arkansas' direct democracy process from legislative interference.