Ballot measures simple, except for Issue 3

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesArkansas lawmakers referred to voters three simple ballot measures – and one complicated one.

Issues 1, 2 and 4 are simple and easy to understand. Issue 3 is the complicated one.

Issue 1 would amend the Arkansas Constitution’s provision that “any” citizen may vote to say instead that “only” citizens may vote. 

Supporters say it’s clearer and more exclusive. They say it would help prevent what has happened in some other states and Washington, D.C., where noncitizens can vote in local elections. 

The opposite viewpoint would be that the “any” language is working fine and that noncitizen voting is rare. We should be wary of changing the Constitution for nonexistent problems. It could lead to bad unforeseen consequences, although it’s hard to see what those would be in this case.  Continue reading →

Citizen initiatives divide secretary of state candidates

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesIssues come and go and political parties often change their positions. But one concern that’s constant is the integrity of the election process itself, and that’s why the secretary of state’s race is important.

Last week, the three statewide candidates for the office that’s in charge of administering Arkansas elections faced off in a debate on Arkansas TV.  Those were Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton; Democrat Kelly Grappe; and Libertarian Michael Pakko. You can watch the debate at www.arkansastv.gov or at the station’s YouTube channel.

The candidates bring impressive biographies to the contest. Hammer has been a state legislator for 16 years and has been a pastor and hospice minister. Grappe has been an executive with Alltel and Verizon and a grassroots political organizer. Pakko is a state economist and the longtime Libertarian Party chair. 

The top issue was Arkansas’ initiative process, where citizens can attempt to bypass the Legislature and pass constitutional amendments and initiated acts. Courts and the secretary of state’s office have invalidated many of those in recent years because of technical errors in the signature collection process. Continue reading →

Governor’s debate had some feisty moments

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesThe Arkansas TV governor’s debate started with a joke about an old controversy and ended with a brief but civil handshake. There were some feisty moments in between.

The debate covered Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ LEARNS educational reform law, the death penalty, Medicaid expansion and other topics. With Sanders on stage were Democratic candidate Sen. Fred Love, D-Mabelvale, and Libertarian candidate Colt Shelby.

You can watch it on YouTube on Arkansas TV’s channel and elsewhere. 

The joke came from Shelby in the debate’s first moments. Glancing in Sanders’ direction, he acted as if he would lean on his lectern and then said, “Oh, I’d better not do that. I hear these are pretty expensive these days.”

In case you’ve forgotten, he was referring to a controversy from a couple of years ago about a $19,000 lectern her office had purchased.

Shelby maintained his pointed criticisms throughout the debate. Sanders more or less stuck to the script, which is not a criticism, except by passionately defending Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward when Shelby said he traveled too much. She said he’s a reserve Marine serving his country. 

In the middle stood Love, who at one point said, “I’m glad I’m between these two.” Continue reading →

The bank founder versus the physicist

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton Sanders, Hill JonesWill any of the state’s four U.S. House races be particularly interesting this election cycle? The 2nd District became a little more so last week.

That’s the one featuring Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Democrat Chris Jones. 

Jones gained a little momentum Monday when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced he was one of six candidates across the country it had added to its Red to Blue program. The designation means Jones will have access to national organizational and fundraising support in the campaign’s final weeks. 

Democrats think he has a chance, in other words. Likewise, the well-regarded Sabato’s Crystal Ball election forecasting site recently moved the race from “Safe Republican” to “Likely Republican.”

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Cotton and Sanders: Waking up and being ‘woke’

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson State, Trump dividend, Issue 3, Protect College Sports Act, Issue 1, Cotton SandersSen. Tom Cotton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made national news in recent days. For Cotton, it was because of a disagreement with President Trump about when Americans should awaken. For Sanders, it was because some commenters said her political ad was too “woke.”

Cotton’s moment occurred Saturday when Trump urged him to support The Sunshine Protection Act in a post on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform. The bill would make daylight savings occur year-round. It has already easily passed the House, 308-117, although all four members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted against it.

Trump encouraged Arkansans to contact Cotton and tell him to support the bill, going so far as to list what he said was Cotton’s cell phone number.

Cotton responded by saying that, like everyone else, he doesn’t like changing the clock, but past efforts to enact permanent daylight savings time have been repealed because the sun rises too late in the winter. There was a short-lived and ultimately unpopular move to year-round daylight savings time in the 1970s during an energy crisis. 

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