Two Arkansas grassroots groups moved to intervene today in an ongoing lawsuit to defend the First Amendment rights of Arkansans who use the ballot initiative process to organize, speak out, and propose new laws.
The motion, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, Elias Law Group LLP, and Shults Law Firm LLP on behalf of Protect AR Rights and For AR Kids, includes a complaint challenging a host of recently enacted laws that make it harder — and riskier — for Arkansans to engage in political speech and participate in direct democracy.
Protect AR Rights is a citizen-led coalition dedicated to safeguarding the ballot initiative process. Its members include Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Arkansas Appleseed, Arkansas Citizens First Congress, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, For AR People, and the Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP.
For AR Kids is a grassroots coalition working to amend the education clause of the Arkansas Constitution. Its member organizations include the Arkansas Education Association, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Arkansas Retired Teachers Association, Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP, and Citizens First Congress.
Their complaint outlines how these laws unconstitutionally burden core political speech by criminalizing ordinary advocacy, restricting who can circulate petitions, and forcing organizers to comply with vague and onerous rules that serve no purpose other than to dilute the right to present citizen-initiated ballot measures. Because Protect AR Rights and For AR Kids are pursuing different ballot measures and are at different stages in the process — with For AR Kids already collecting signatures — they face legal barriers distinct from the plaintiffs in the earlier-filed lawsuit and bring additional claims that underscore the urgent need for relief.
“This case is about protecting core political speech,” said John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “Arkansas voters have a constitutional right to speak out, organize, and propose laws through the ballot initiative process. The laws we’re challenging are deliberate efforts to suppress that speech and silence the voices of ordinary Arkansans in favor of entrenched political power.”
In Arkansas, the right to direct democracy is written into the state constitution. For more than a century, voters have used this power to advance policies, expand opportunities, and ensure accountability when lawmakers fail to act.
“The Arkansas legislature is attempting to undermine the will of the people by stripping away their power to enact change through direct democracy,” said Emma Olson Sharkey, partner at Elias Law Group. “These laws are not about protecting the process — they are about politicians consolidating power and silencing citizens who seek to hold them accountable. This is a clear violation of the Constitution and an affront to the core principles of our democracy.”
The lawsuit asserts that these restrictions violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by infringing on core political speech, limiting access to the ballot, and imposing vague or selectively enforced regulations that deter civic participation.
Among the challenged provisions are:
- A requirement that citizen initiatives pass a machine-generated reading test before petitioning may begin — a rule that does not apply to measures referred by the legislature
- Rules that force circulators to recite specific warnings, verify IDs, and stop collecting signatures after an affidavit is filed — all while complying with a 50-county geographic signature requirement
- Restrictions on who may serve as a canvasser, including prohibitions on non-residents and additional burdens for paid petition circulators, and when canvassers may collect signatures
- Mandatory disclosures and procedures that chill speech and create opportunities for harassment, including public release of canvasser addresses
- A law that gives the Secretary of State authority to exclude all signatures collected by a canvasser when the Secretary of State unilaterally determines that the canvasser violated vague laws or committed even technical violations.
Several of these laws also subject canvassers to criminal penalties if they fail to comply, increasing the risk for everyday Arkansans who wish to engage in the political process.
“Politicians keep attacking Arkansans' right to make decisions through ballot measures, and it’s outrageous,” said Bill Kopsky, grassroots organizer with For AR Kids. “It’s nothing more than a complete power grab on the will of the citizens of our state. With these politicians trying to make it impossible for us to have a voice, we believe it’s time for Arkansans to come together and fight back to protect the people's power.”
“The General Assembly has enacted laws making it nearly impossible for Arkansans to exercise their right to place initiatives on the ballot,” said Peter Shults, attorney at Shults Law Firm. “These laws violate Arkansans’ fundamental rights of free speech and due process. This lawsuit aims to stop these fundamental-rights violations so that the right of people to enact initiatives is restored and Arkansas can live up to its motto: Regnat Populus, The People Rule.”
The motion was filed in League of Women Voters v. Jester, No. 25-5087 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. A copy of the motion and proposed complaint is available online here. The proposed complaint will be filed if the court grants the motion to intervene.
