The Arkansas Supreme Court said Monday it will hear arguments next month on the state’s appeal of two court orders that forced Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to reschedule two legislative special elections.Colt Shelby, a Senate District 26 voter from Cecil and now-Libertarian Party nominee for governor, filed the first lawsuit in October challenging the original June dates the Republican governor set for the special elections for that seat and the House District 70 seat..
The lawsuits argued the dates violated state laws mandating legislative vacancies be filled no later than 150 days after vacancy, unless it is impracticable or unduly burdensome to do so. Sanders eventually scheduled the elections for March after judges ruled against her in both cases.
The lawsuits occurred as Sanders faced ongoing backlash from people living within Senate District 26 over the controversial Franklin County prison project she’s advocated for. Sen. Gary Stubblefield, a Republican from Branch who represented the district until his death in September, was a vocal critic of the project.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas and several voters filed a second lawsuit, unrelated but similar in its legal arguments, two weeks later over an identical special election schedule Sanders set for House District 70. Its previous holder, Republican Carlton Wing, resigned to become the chief executive at Arkansas TV, the state’s public television network.
Under the original dates, the new lawmakers would not have been chosen until after this year’s legislative session, which began last week.
Judges in Pulaski County Circuit Court swiftly sided with the plaintiffs in both lawsuits after hearings and ordered the elections to be held sooner, rejecting arguments from Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office that Sanders has complete, unreviewable discretion over special election dates.
Sanders appealed both rulings to the Arkansas Supreme Court, but ultimately complied with the circuit court orders in November after the justices rejected her requests to pause the rulings while the appeal was underway. New legislators were elected to those seats in March, instead of June, as a result.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI