Arkansas Supreme Court Rejects Abortion Ballot Measure

Pro-abortion activists are not very happy with the Arkansas Supreme Court right now.

The court rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed more restrictions on current abortion legislation.

This blocks the measure from being put on the ballot to go before voters in November.

You Messed Up

The ballot measure was challenged on a procedural error in the filing.

When the documentation was submitted, all of the paperwork for the paid signature gatherers was supposed to be submitted in a single bundle, but it was not.

Since they did not follow the law, the petition for the ballot measure has been tossed.

Justice Rhonda Wood wrote the majority opinion, stating, “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.”

Justice Karen Baker wrote the dissent, stating, “Why are the respondent and the majority determined to keep this particular vote from the people?

“The majority has succeeded in its efforts to change the law in order to deprive the voters of the opportunity to vote on this issue, which is not the proper role of this court.”

Here is my question… the justices are there to enforce the law.

So, if the law says the documentation was supposed to be submitted in a particular fashion, and it was not, the decision is easy.

If you are going to find a reason to go around the law as it is written, then why have the law there in the first place?

This has become the problem with today’s judiciary in that many jurists have become activists rather than simply applying the law as it is written.

The minority in this case can whine all they want about the ruling, but the fact of the matter is the majority got this one right.

If they want this measure on the ballot, resubmit the documentation the proper way, and it will be on the ballot.