On Thursday, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the state's rejection of signature petitions for a radical pro-abortion ballot initiative.
The proposal will not end up on the 2024 ballot as a result.
"We find that the Secretary correctly refused to count the signatures collected by paid canvassers because the sponsor failed to file the paid canvasser training certification," the court said in a 4-3 ruling, according to CBS News.
To recap, the Arkansas secretary of state rejected the effort put forward by pro-abortion activists to enshrine the right to kill your unborn baby into state law, which Townhall covered.
Pro-abortion activists claimed that they garnered over 101,000 signatures in support of the effort. This was more than the required amount.
Secretary of State John Thurston said that the group failed to submit a sworn statement both identifying paid canvassers by name and confirming that these canvassers were properly trained on collecting signatures. Due to this, the initiative was disqualified.
“The first part of our review is to ensure that the sponsor has complied with all statutory requirements for submitting a petition,” Thurston wrote. “Because you failed at this first step, it is my duty to reject your submission.”
In addition, Thurston shared that if he had eliminated the signatures that were collected by paid canvassers, it would have dropped the total number of signatures to 87,382, below the mandatory requirement.
WIN IN ARKANSAS: The Secretary of State’s office REJECTED the Arkansas Abortion Amendment.⁰⁰Abortion will NOT be on the ballot in November!⁰⁰In rejecting signatures from unverified, paid signature collectors & in noting what the law requires, Arkansas Secretary of State John… pic.twitter.com/NBK0sZizzb
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) July 10, 2024
Predictably, activists behind the proposal flipped out and said they would fight the decision.
“We will fight this ridiculous disqualification attempt with everything we have,” the group said. “We will not back down.”
“As I have long said, changing the Arkansas Constitution involves a rigorous process, as it should, and it requires sponsors to adhere to all applicable laws and rules,” Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement. “Failure to follow such a basic requirement is inexcusable: the abortion advocates have no one to blame but themselves.”
Shortly after, the pro-abortion activists sued the state.
“We will fight this ridiculous disqualification attempt with everything we have,” the group said.