Arkansas secretary of state faces lawsuit over abortion amendment rejection

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A lawsuit has been filed against Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston on behalf of an activist group working to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would expand abortion access in the state.

The lawsuit filed by Arkansas For Limited Government claims Thurston erred when he failed to count voter signatures gathered by the group, and instead rejected them as insufficient due to technical violations, without giving the petitioners the opportunity to correct the submission.

It calls the rejection of these submissions unlawful and incorrect.

Read the full complaint below:

On Monday, Thurston sent a letter to those advocating for access to abortion, explaining why the petition was rejected.

The secretary referenced AR Code 7-9-111(f)(2) which highlights procedures that must be taken by the person filing the petition to also submit a statement signed by the sponsor.

The June 27 affidavit according to Thurston in the letter is not "signed by the sponsor." Another highlighted point mentioned in the letter was that the affidavit wasn't submitted with the petition.

AR Code 7-9-111(f), points to the binding of the filing of the signed statement to the date of filing petitions.

It says that if the signatures were obtained and also a petition submitted through a procedure in alignment with 7-9-111(f), then the complete petition would reflect that.

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