This story is from our partner Little Rock Public Radio.
A bill to give the secretary of state’s office more power over the petition process failed in an Arkansas legislative committee Thursday.
Senate Bill 212 was rejected by members of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee. The bill would grant the Secretary of State’s Office law enforcement powers to investigate the validity of documents relating to ballot initiatives and petitions.
The bill failed on a voice vote after roughly an hour of debate and public comment. Activist Jimmie Cavin was one of several members of the public to speak against the bill, saying it gives the secretary of state too much power.
“They now get to null and void my signature, their signature, based off their opinion… and they get to do that without the defendant putting on a defense,” Cavin said.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, said it would only give the secretary of state the power to investigate potential fraud cases, not to arrest or prosecute anyone.
“They are doing the fact-finding portion of an overall investigation that is going to be handled by those that have the due right to do the prosecuting and make the determination,” Hammer said. “We’re not turning them loose, we’re giving them the ability to investigate so that they can bring all that and present it and then let it go through.”
Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutcheon said the state doesn’t need another law enforcement agency to deal specifically with potential fraud in the petition process.
“Let’s enforce the laws that we have, and let’s find the problem. Because, the best I can tell, there have really been no prosecutions in the last ten years for petition fraud,” he said.
Other members of the public pointed out the bill would allow petition signatures to be thrown out with no options for voters to appeal the secretary of state’s decision. Nathan Lee, chief legal counsel with the Secretary of State’s Office, disagreed.
“There is due process. There’s an opportunity for those folks, the sponsor and other people, to appeal that up to the Arkansas Supreme Court if they thought that that was done improperly or incorrectly,” he said.
Several other bills in the current legislative session aim to change the petition process; one requiring canvassers to inform signers that petition fraud is a crime gained final approval in the legislature Wednesday.
