Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-105 (2026)
Form of referendum petition — Sufficiency of signatures
- The petition and order of referendum for an ordinance or act shall be on substantially the following form:
- The information provided by the person on the petition may be used as evidence of the validity or invalidity of the signature. However, if a signature of a registered voter on the petition is sufficient to verify the voter's name, then it shall not be adjudged invalid for failure to sign the name or write the residence and city or town of residence exactly as it appears on voter registration records, for failure to print the name in the space provided, for failure to provide the correct date of birth, nor for failure to provide the correct date of signing the petition, all of that information being an aid to verification rather than a mandatory requirement to perfect the validity of the signature.
- 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 as 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.
“REFERENDUM 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 or Incorporated Town of , Arkansas, (as the case may be) respectfully order by this, our petition, that Act No. of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, approved on the day of , 20 , entitled ‘An Act ’ or Ordinance No. , passed by the county quorum court, the city (or town) council of the City (or Incorporated Town), or County of , Arkansas, on the day of , 20 , entitled, ‘An Ordinance ,’ be referred to the people of said state, county, or municipality (as the case may be), to the end that the same may be approved or rejected by the vote of the registered voters of the state, or of said county or municipality (as the case may be) at the biennial (or annual, as the case may be, if a city ordinance) regular general election (or at a special election, as the case may be) 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 referred measure.) REFERRED TO 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 referred measure.)”.
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History. Acts 1911 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 2, § 2; C. & M. Dig., § 9766; Pope's Dig., § 13287; A.S.A. 1947, § 2-204; Acts 1989, No. 280, § 2; 1991, No. 42, § 2; 1997, No. 646, § 5; 2001, No. 790, § 1; 2005, No. 67, § 24; 2013, No. 1413, §§ 6, 7.
Publisher's Notes. This section, insofar as it related to municipalities, was superseded by Acts 1913, No. 135 which was subsequently superseded by Ark. Const., Amend. 7.
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.
Amendments. The 2013 amendment, in (a), inserted “for an ordinance or act” in the first sentence, “or County, Arkansas, or City of , or Incorporated Town of , Arkansas (as the case may be)” and the final two paragraphs; substituted “REFERRENDUM PETITION” for “PETITION FOR REFERENDUM” and “registered” for “legal” throughout; and added (d).
Case Notes
Construction with Art. 5, § 1.
The provisions of this section as to the form of the petition were not repealed by Ark. Const. Amend. 7, which amended Ark. Const., Art. 5, § 1. Washburn v. Hall, 225 Ark. 868, 286 S.W.2d 494 (1956).
Identification of Act.
Identifying the subject act in a referendum petition by the date on which it became a law without the governor's signature rather than by the effective date specified in the act was not clearly erroneous, but, even if it were, such error could not be misleading when an exact copy of the act appeared on the petition. Fletcher v. Bryant, 243 Ark. 864, 422 S.W.2d 698 (1968).