By Steve Brawner, © 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Arkansas state legislators are proposing a constitutional amendment that would make it harder for citizens to pass constitutional amendments in the future. And yes, the process is broken. The question is, will this fix it?

Issue 3, which is on this year’s ballot, also would make it harder for citizens to pass initiated acts, which are voter-created state laws, and also referenda, where voters can overturn a law already passed by legislators.

Let’s start with what clearly needs fixing.

First, the Arkansas Constitution is amended too often – 100 times since it was adopted in 1874 versus 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution since it was adopted in 1789 – and too easily. Sometimes it’s amended to create policy changes that should be made in less permanent ways, such as a law. Well-funded special interests and private businesses can write for themselves a permanent place in our state’s most important document.

Also, the current process is dominated by lawsuits that result in the Arkansas Supreme Court blocking proposals close to the election. This often occurs because of some technical issue regarding the voter signatures that citizen groups must collect to qualify for the ballot. For a constitutional amendment this year, for example, the groups had to collect 89,151 signatures.

The ruling often occurs too late for the proposal to be removed from the ballot. This year, voters will see a referendum to prevent optometrists from performing eye surgeries, but their votes won’t be counted.

Those are good reasons to reform the process. Here’s one that’s not as good: Some, including legislators, just don’t like how the people have voted lately. Examples include an amendment authorizing casinos, an amendment legalizing medical marijuana, and an initiated act increasing the state’s minimum wage.

That’s the background. Now let’s look at what Issue 3 would do. Read carefully because legislators chose not to include any explanation on the ballot itself. The title that voters will see only vaguely says the amendment, initiated act and referendum processes are being amended.

The amendment would:

– Increase from 15 to 45 the number of counties where the required number of voter signatures must be collected.
– Eliminate the “cure period” that allows groups to collect more signatures if too many are disqualified by the secretary of state for various reasons.
– Require citizen groups to submit the required number of signatures by Jan. 15 of the election year, instead of the current four months before the election.
– Require 60% support for the House and Senate to refer an amendment to voters, rather than the current 50%.
– Set April 15 as the deadline for filing lawsuits challenging the proposals.

Do those changes fix the aforementioned problems?

Issue 3 would reduce the number of amendments, but mostly the ones proposed by citizens. That leap from 15 to 45 counties is a major one, and the earlier submission deadline also adds to the difficulty.

However, that requirement won’t necessarily stop well-financed special interest groups if they’re determined enough. The amendment does nothing to prohibit a private business from gaining a spot in the Constitution. And remember, that 45-county requirement also makes it harder for voters to pass their own laws – not constitutional amendments, but laws – through initiated acts and referenda.

Moreover, most constitutional amendments are proposed not by the people, but by legislators. They can propose three each election cycle and indeed are asking voters to amend the Constitution two other ways this year.

Issue 3 doesn’t make it much harder for them to do that. Increasing the number of required votes by legislators from 50% to 60% equals just 10 more House members and three more senators. Legislators usually either pass things overwhelmingly or not at all, and if it’s close, a few can be convinced to get it over the hump.

Finally, Issue 3 doesn’t fix the signature-collecting process that causes so many problems. But at least the April 15 deadline would eliminate late-filed lawsuits. We could have campaigns about issues, instead of having protracted legal proceedings that end in mid-October.

Unlike this year, votes could be counted for every citizen-initiated measure appearing on the ballot – when there are some.

Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.