LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — This week, the Arkansas Attorney General's office has had its hands full with amendment proposals from groups across Arkansas.
The fourth version for a proposal to change laws protecting Arkansas' transparency was rejected, followed by a rejected proposal on Arkansas public school education.
On Jan. 9, Arkansans for Limited Government, or AFLG, submitted a third draft of a ballot proposal addressing abortion to Attorney General Tim Griffin's office after the second draft was rejected on Jan. 4th.
"You're already as a voter at a disadvantage when there's all this language. The last thing you need is for it to be confusing, because I didn't do my job," Griffin said.
Griffin explained that ballot title and text language is the main reason why many proposals submitted to his office are rejected.
"There are several we've rejected the first time and we tell them what to fix. Then they resubmit it without fixing it. Well, of course, we're going to reject it again," Griffin said. "So first and foremost, take a deep breath, get your pen out, read the opinion, and number everything that needs to be changed and go through and change it. Don't resubmit it with the same mistakes, you're gonna get the same answer."
The opinion released by Griffin's office regarding AFLG's recent proposal specifically states the previous abortion draft was rejected because the term physical health was used to describe the presence of a physical disorder, illness, or injury rather than its absence.
Griffin says minor mistakes or misleading words can easily be challenged in the Supreme Court.
"This rigor up front is a filter that keeps out stuff that would probably fail in the court system. Isn't it better to do all this and get it right before you gather tens of 1,000s of signatures? Of course it is," Griffin said.
AFLG posted to its account on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying "AFLG is confident that the third Arkansas abortion amendment submission addresses the AG's concern and provides clarity and consistency while maintaining the policy's integrity."
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