Supporters of scaling back Arkansas abortion ban sue state for rejecting ballot measure petitions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Supporters of a proposal to ask voters scale back Arkansas’ abortion ban sued the state on Tuesday for rejecting their petitions to get the measure on the November ballot.

Arkansans for Limited Government, the group supporting the proposed constitutional amendment, asked the state Supreme Court to reverse the state’s decision and order the state to begin counting its signatures. The secretary of state’s office said on July 10 that the group didn’t submit required statements related to the paid signature gatherers it used. The group has said the documentation it submitted — which included a list of the gatherers — did meet the legal requirements.

The group submitted more than 101,000 signatures on the state’s July 5 deadline, which would have been enough had they been certified. They needed at least 90,704 signatures from registered voters and a minimum number from 50 counties.

Election officials cited a 2013 Arkansas law requiring campaigns to submit statements identifying each paid canvasser by name and confirming that rules for signature-gathering were explained to them.