Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-103 (2026)
Signing of petition — Penalty for falsification — Notice of suspected forgery
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- A person who is a registered voter of this state may sign his or her own name and print his or her own name, address, birth date, and the date of signing on an initiative or referendum petition in his or her own proper handwriting, and not otherwise, to order an initiative or referendum vote upon a proposed amendment or a proposed or referred act.
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If a person signing a petition under subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section requires assistance due to disability, another person:
- May print the name, address, birth date, and the date of signing; and
- Shall sign and print his or her name in the margin of the petition.
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- A person who is a registered voter of a municipality or county of this state may sign his or her own name and print his or her own name, address, birth date, and the date of signing on an initiative or referendum petition in his or her own proper handwriting, and not otherwise, to order an initiative or referendum vote upon a proposed or referred ordinance.
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If a person signing a petition under subdivision (a)(2)(A) of this section requires assistance due to disability, another person:
- May print the name, address, birth date, and the date of signing; and
- Shall sign and print his or her name in the margin of the petition.
- A person who is under eighteen (18) years of age shall not act as a canvasser.
- A person shall not act as a paid canvasser on a statewide initiative or referendum petition if the sponsor has not provided the information required under § 7-9-601 to the Secretary of State before the person solicits signatures on a petition.
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A person commits a Class A misdemeanor if the person knowingly:
- Signs a name other than his or her own name to a petition;
- Signs his or her name more than one (1) time to a petition;
- Signs a petition when he or she is not legally entitled to sign the petition;
- Prints a name, address, or birth date other than his or her own on a petition unless the signer requires assistance due to disability and the person complies with this section; or
- Prints the date of signing for another person unless the signer requires assistance due to disability and the person complies with this section.
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A person commits a Class A misdemeanor if the person, acting as a canvasser, notary, sponsor, or agent of a sponsor:
- Signs a name other than his or her own to a petition;
- Prints a name, address, or birth date other than his or her own on a petition unless the signer requires assistance due to disability and the person complies with this section;
- Solicits or obtains a signature to a petition knowing that the person signing is not qualified to sign the petition;
- Knowingly pays a person any form of compensation in exchange for signing a petition as a petitioner;
- Accepts or pays money or anything of value for obtaining signatures on a petition when the person acting as a canvasser, sponsor, or agent of a sponsor knows that the person acting as canvasser's name or address is not included on the sponsor's list filed with the Secretary of State under § 7-9-601;
- Knowingly misrepresents the purpose and effect of the petition or the measure affected for the purpose of causing a person to sign a petition;
- As a canvasser, knowingly makes a false statement on a petition verification form;
- As a notary, fails to witness a canvasser's affidavit by witnessing the signing of the instrument in person and either personally knowing the signer or being presented with proof of identity of the signer; or
- As a sponsor, files a petition part with the official charged with verifying the signatures knowing that the petition part contains one (1) or more false or fraudulent signatures unless each false or fraudulent signature is clearly stricken by the sponsor before filing.
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When the official charged with verifying the signatures has reasonable grounds to believe that one (1) or more signatures on a petition is forged, the official shall report the suspected forgery and basis for suspecting forgery to:
- The Division of Arkansas State Police, in the case of a statewide petition; or
- The prosecuting attorney of the county, in the case of a local petition.
History. Acts 1913, No. 135, § 3; C. & M. Dig., § 7505; Pope's Dig., § 9564; Acts 1943, No. 195, § 2; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 2-202, 2-401; Acts 1991, No. 719, § 1; 1997, No. 646, § 3; 2013, No. 1413, § 3; 2013, No. 1432, § 10; 2015, No. 1219, § 1; 2019, No. 376, §§ 3, 4.
A.C.R.C. Notes. Former subdivisions (b)(6) through (8) of this section were also amended by Acts 2013, No. 1413, § 3, prior to the repeal of former subdivision (b) by Acts 2013, No. 1432, § 10, which read:
“(6) Knowingly misrepresents the purpose and effect of the petition or the measure affected for the purpose of causing a person to sign a petition;
“(7) As a canvasser, knowingly makes a false statement on a petition verification form;
“(8) As a notary, knowingly fails to witness a canvasser's affidavit by witnessing the signing of the instrument in person and either personally knowing the signer or by being presented with proof of the identity of the signer; or”
Amendments. The 2013 amendment by No. 1413 rewrote the section.
The 2013 amendment by No. 1432 repealed former (b).
The 2015 amendment inserted present (b) and redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly; and inserted (c)(6) through (c)(8) and redesignated former (c)(6) as (c)(9).
The 2019 amendment added (b)(4) and (b)(5); and deleted “excluding signatures apparently signed by one (1) spouse for another” following “petition is forged” in the introductory language of (d).
Cross References. Criminal impersonation, § 5-37-208.
Forgery, § 5-37-201.
Research References
Ark. L. Rev.
Lauren G. Summerhill, Legislative Note: Hugh Jazz Supports the Scholarship Lottery: The Arkansas General Assembly Wrecks the Right to Ballot Initiative with Act 1413, 67 Ark. L. Rev. 781 (2014).
Case Notes
Constitutionality.
Arkansas had a legitimate state interest in making the signing of a ballot petition a crime in certain instances and core political speech was not impeded under this process, notwithstanding the argument that county registrars' voter registration lists should not be definitive evidence that a person is a registered voter because persons may consider themselves registered after completing a registration card but before the application is processed by the county; since the registered voter requirement seeks to exclude those signatures that are falsely obtained or forged and aims to protect the state's initiative process from abuse, this section's regulations of the initiative procedure did not restrict political speech. Hoyle v. Priest, 265 F.3d 699 (8th Cir. 2001).
Provisions of this section that require a registered voter to include his or her printed name, address, and date of birth on an initiative or referendum petition do not violate Ark. Const. Art. 5, § 1 as an unwarranted restriction on the right of petition. McDaniel v. Spencer, 2015 Ark. 94, 457 S.W.3d 641 (2015).
Effective Date of 2019 Amendment.
Emergency clause of Acts 2019, No. 376 was defective where the stated basis was “to avoid confusion in petition circulation”; Act 376 added additional requirements for getting a referendum on the election ballot, and the prospect of affording those who seek to file a ballot petition additional notice of new requirements for that petition, especially when the people would not be voting on any such initiatives or referenda for at least another 15 months, did not amount to an emergency under Ark. Const., Art. 5, § 1. Safe Surgery Ark. v. Thurston, 2019 Ark. 403, 591 S.W.3d 293 (2019) (sub. op.).
As the emergency clause of Acts 2019, No. 376 was ineffective and Act 376’s new requirements were not in effect at the time petitioner filed its proposed referendum and supporting signatures, mandamus was granted directing the Secretary of State to address petitioner's referendum filings (seeking a referendum on Acts 2019, No. 579) under the pre-Act 376 legal framework for initiatives and referenda. Safe Surgery Ark. v. Thurston, 2019 Ark. 403, 591 S.W.3d 293 (2019) (sub. op.).
Right of Referendum.
The right of referendum is granted to the people on legislation of every character, whether the legislation affects all or a part of the citizens of the municipality affected. Carpenter v. City of Paragould, 198 Ark. 454, 128 S.W.2d 980 (1939).
Signatures Disqualified.
Certain initiative petition signatures were excluded because the signatures were collected by paid canvassers before the canvassers were disclosed to the Secretary of State. Benca v. Martin, 2016 Ark. 359, 500 S.W.3d 742 (2016).