LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas’ highest court on Thursday blocked two ballot measures proposed to overhaul the redistricting process and to create a new “ranked choice” voting system for most offices.
The Supreme Court sided with the secretary of state’s decision to reject the petitions submitted for the proposed constitutional amendments. Secretary of State John Thurston last month said the initiative campaigns did not comply with a state law requiring them to certify that their signature gatherers passed criminal background checks.
The redistricting proposal would have put a nine-member commission in charge of redrawing congressional and legislative districts.
Arkansas’ congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years by the state Legislature, which is majority Republican. Legislative districts are redrawn by a three-person panel comprised of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, who are all Republicans.
Under the second proposal, candidates for most offices would have run in a single open primary and the top four candidates would advance to the general election. Voters would then rank their top choices one through four.
The proposed constitutional amendments needed at least 89,151 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify.
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