The Arkansas Supreme Court kills constitutional amendments for nonpartisan redistricting and open primaries UPDATE

BY Max Brantley
ON August 27, 202010:44 am

The Arkansas Supreme Court today disqualified two proposed constitutional amendments for the ballot because of flawed affidavits on background checks for paid canvassers.

This kills amendments to create a non-partisan redistricting commission and to institute open primary elections in Arkansas. Republican money helped finance the legal campaign against both amendments.

The decision also seems to hold significance for a still-pending appeal about a referendum on a law expanding optometrists’ surgical privileges. A group trying to repeal that law is having its petitions challenged on similar grounds.

The key ruling came in the finding that neither campaign met the affidavit requirement for paid canvassers in a new state law that requires them to pass a criminal background check.

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