Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-104 (2026)
Form of initiative petition — Sufficiency of signatures
- The petition for an ordinance, act, or amendment proposed by initiative shall be on substantially the following form:
- No additional sheets of voter signatures shall be attached to any petition unless the sheets contain the full language of the petition.
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- The signature section of the petition shall be formatted and shall contain the number of signature lines prescribed by the Secretary of State.
- Before the circulation of a statewide petition for signatures, the sponsor shall file a printed petition part with the Secretary of State in the exact form that will be used for obtaining signatures.
“INITIATIVE PETITION To the Honorable Secretary of State of the State of Arkansas, or County Clerk, or City Clerk We, the undersigned registered voters of the State of Arkansas, or County, Arkansas, or City of , or Incorporated Town of , Arkansas (as the case may be), respectfully propose the following amendment to the Constitution of the State or act or ordinance (as the case may be), and by this, our petition, order that the same be submitted to the people of said state, or county, or municipality (as the case may be), to the end that the same may be adopted, enacted, or rejected by the vote of the registered voters of said (state, county, or municipality) at the regular general election to be held on the day of , 20 , and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a registered voter of the State of Arkansas, or County, Arkansas, or City of , or Incorporated Town of , Arkansas (as the case may be), and my printed name, date of birth, residence, city or town of residence, and date of signing this petition are correctly written after my signature. (Here insert popular name and ballot title of initiated measure.) (In the case of a proposed initiated act or ordinance, insert the following: BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, OR COUNTY, ARKANSAS, OR CITY OF OR INCORPORATED TOWN OF , ARKANSAS (as the case may be)): (Here insert full text of initiated measure.)”
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History. Acts 1911 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 2, § 4; C. & M. Dig., § 9761; Pope's Dig., § 13285; A.S.A. 1947, § 2-203; Acts 1989, No. 280, § 1; 1991, No. 42, § 1; 1997, No. 646, § 4; 2001, No. 789, § 1; 2005, No. 67, § 23; 2013, No. 1413, §§ 4, 5; 2019, No. 376, § 5.
Publisher's Notes. Ark. Const., Amend. 7, which amended Ark. Const., Art. 5, § 1, repealed Acts 1911 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 2 to the extent of any conflict therewith.
Municipalities may provide for initiative and referendum as to their local legislation, see Ark. Const., Art. 5, § 1.
Amendments. The 2013 amendment, in (a), substituted “act” for “law”, “registered” for “legal”, or similar language throughout, deleted “to wit: Here insert title and full text of measure proposed” following “(as the case may be)”, and deleted “in said” following “election to be held” and inserted “or County, Arkansas, or City of , or Incorporated Town of , Arkansas (as the case may be),” and the final two paragraphs; and added (d).
The 2019 amendment deleted former (b), and redesignated former (c) and (d) as (b) and (c).
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
Applicability.
Circuit court did not err in finding substantial compliance with the statute and by not decertifying a local-option petition based on the absence of an enacting clause; local-option petition is not the sort of measure that requires the inclusion of an enacting clause, and such a proposal is demonstrably not an ordinance to which subsection (a) would strictly apply. Our Cmty., Our Dollars v. Bullock, 2014 Ark. 457, 452 S.W.3d 552 (2014).
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.).
Sufficiency of Petition.
Where the election petitions circulated and signed did not contain the title and full text of the measure actually proposed to the voters at the general election, substantial compliance with the recommended form, including the ballot title and full text, is contemplated under the specific terms of this section, and the ballot title was sufficient because it alleged the general purpose of the act to be referred, and the details of the referred act are not required to be set out in the petition. Reichenbach v. Serio, 309 Ark. 274, 830 S.W.2d 847 (1992).
Because the initiative sponsors' revised ballot title was something clearly different than the original ballot title, no signature collected under the former title could support certification of the revised ballot title under Ark. Const., Art. 5, § 1, § 7-9-106(a), or subsection (a) of this section; the Secretary of State's certification was vacated and any votes cast could not be counted. Walmsley v. Martin, 2012 Ark. 370, 423 S.W.3d 587 (2012).