Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to the Arkansas
Constitution.
*MBM079* 02/02/2023 02:26:42 PM MBM079
State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly 2
Regular Session, 2023 SJR 2 3
4
By: Senator J. Payton 5
By: Representatives Cavenaugh, G. Hodges 6
7
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 8
AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTIO N TO CREATE A 9
PROCEDURE FOR THE RE CALL OF PERSONS ELEC TED TO THE 10
OFFICES OF GOVERNOR, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, ATTORNEY 11
GENERAL, SECRETARY O F STATE, TREASURER O F STATE, 12
AUDITOR OF STATE, CO MMISSIONER OF STATE LANDS, MEMBE R 13
OF THE HOUSE OF REPR ESENTATIVES, MEMBER OF THE 14
SENATE, CHIEF JUSTIC E OF THE SUPREME COU RT, JUSTICE 15
OF THE SUPREME COURT , CHIEF JUDGE OF THE COURT OF 16
APPEALS, JUDGE OF TH E COURT OF APPEALS, CIRCUIT 17
JUDGE, DISTRICT JUDG E, OR PROSECUTING ATTORNEY. 18
19
20
Subtitle 21
AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION 22
TO CREATE A PROCEDURE FOR THE RECALL OF A 23
STATE CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICER, A MEMBER OF 24
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AN ELECTED JUDICIAL 25
OFFICER, OR A PROSECUTING ATTORNEY. 26
27
28
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY -FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 29
STATE OF ARKANSAS, AND BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, A MAJORITY OF ALL 30
MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE AGREEING THERETO: 31
32
THAT the following is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of 33
the State of Arkansas, and upon being submitted to the electors of the state 34
for approval or rejection at the next general election for Representatives 35
and Senators, if a majority of the electors voting thereon at the election 36 SJR2
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adopt the amendment, the amendment sh all become a part of the Constitution of 1
the State of Arkansas, to wit: 2
3
SECTION 1. The Arkansas Constitution is amended to add an additional 4
amendment to read as follows: 5
§ 1. Definitions. 6
As used in this amendment: 7
(1) "Elected official" means a person elected or appointed to 8
one (1) of the following offices: 9
(A) Governor; 10
(B) Lieutenant Governor; 11
(C) Attorney General; 12
(D) Secretary of State; 13
(E) Treasurer of State; 14
(F) Auditor of State; 15
(G) Commissioner of State Lands; 16
(H) Member of the House of Representatives; 17
(I) Member of the Senate; 18
(J) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; 19
(K) Justice of the Supreme Court; 20
(L) Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals; 21
(M) Judge of the Court of Appeal s; 22
(N) Circuit court judge; 23
(O) District court judge; and 24
(P) Prosecuting attorney. 25
(2) "Recall" means the voting by the electors of the state or 26
the electors of a district to ascertain whether or not it is the desire of 27
the majority of the electors to allow an elected official to remain in that 28
capacity for the duration of his or her el ected term; and 29
(3) “Recall petition” means a petition demanding the recall of 30
an elected official. 31
32
§ 2. Petition. 33
(a) The qualified electors of the state or a district, as the case may 34
be, may petition for the recall of an elected official by f iling a recall 35
petition demanding the recall of the elected official. 36 SJR2
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(b)(1) The recall petition for the recall of an elected official 1
elected statewide shall be signed by qualified electors of the state in a 2
number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) of the votes cast for Governor 3
at the last general election at which a Governor was elected. 4
(2) The recall petition for an elected official elected by a 5
district shall be signed by qualified electors of the district in which the 6
elected official is se rving in a number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) 7
of the votes cast for Governor within the district at the last general 8
election at which a Governor was elected. 9
10
§ 3. Recall of elected officials. 11
(a)(1)(A) The recall of an elected official sh all be initiated by 12
filing a notice of intent to circulate a recall petition with the Secretary 13
of State. 14
(B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 15
petition, the notice of intent shall be filed with the Attorney General. 16
(2) No recall petition shall be circulated before the notice of 17
intent is filed. 18
(3) The notice of intent to circulate a recall petition shall 19
state the reason the elected official should be recalled. 20
(4) The filer of the notice of intent to circulate a rec all 21
petition shall within five (5) calendar days after filing the notice of 22
intent notify the elected official who will be the subject of a recall 23
petition by certified mail with return receipt requested. 24
(b) A separate recall petition shall be used for each county and 25
recall petitions from each county shall be kept separate to facilitate voter 26
identification. 27
(c)(1) The recall petitions shall be filed with the Secretary of State 28
not less than sixty (60) calendar days nor more than eighty (80) calendar 29
days after the filing of the notice of intent to circulate a recall petition. 30
(2) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 31
petition, the recall petitions shall be filed with the Attorney General. 32
(d)(1)(A) Within thirty (30) calendar da ys after the recall petitions 33
are filed, the Secretary of State shall determine whether the recall petition 34
is sufficient and, if the recall petition is sufficient, shall state the 35
sufficiency in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent. 36 SJR2
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(B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 1
petition, the Attorney General shall determine whether the recall petition is 2
sufficient and, if the recall petition is sufficient, shall state the 3
sufficiency in a letter to the filer of the notice of inte nt. 4
(2)(A) If the recall petition is found to be insufficient, the 5
letter shall state the reasons creating the insufficiency. 6
(B)(i) The recall petition may be amended to correct or 7
amend an insufficiency within thirty (30) calendar days after the o riginal 8
determination of insufficiency. 9
(ii) An amended or corrected recall petition shall 10
be filed with the Secretary of State or, if the Secretary of State is the 11
subject of the recall petition, the Attorney General. 12
(C) For a statewide recall petition, correction or 13
amendment of an insufficient recall petition shall be permitted only if the 14
recall petition contains valid signatures of legal voters equal to at least 15
seventy-five percent (75%) of the number of statewide signatures of legal 16
voters required. 17
(3)(A) Within fifteen (15) calendar days after the filing of an 18
amended recall petition, the Secretary of State shall examine the recall 19
petition again to determine sufficiency and shall state the sufficiency of 20
the amended recall petition in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent 21
to circulate a recall petition. 22
(B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 23
petition, the Attorney General shall examine the recall petition again to 24
determine sufficiency and shall state the sufficiency of the amended recall 25
petition in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent to circulate a 26
recall petition. 27
(e)(1)(A) Immediately upon finding an original or amended recall 28
petition sufficient, the Secretary of State shall notify the Governor who 29
shall immediately call a special election for the purpose of submitting the 30
recall proposal to the appropriate electors. 31
(B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 32
petition, the Attorney General shall notify the Governor immediately upon 33
finding an original or amended recall petition sufficient. 34
(C) If the Governor is the subject of the recall petition , 35
the Secretary of State shall notify the Lieutenant Governor, who shall 36 SJR2
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immediately call a special election. 1
(2)(A) The special election for the purpose of submitting the 2
recall proposal to the appropriate electors shall be held within ninety (90) 3
calendar days after the call for a special election. 4
(B) However, if the next following general election is to 5
be held within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days of the original or 6
amended recall petition being found sufficient, the recall proposal s hall be 7
submitted at the next following general election. 8
(f) If the Attorney General performs one (1) or more duties of the 9
Secretary of State under this section due to the Secretary of State being the 10
subject of the recall petition, the Attorney Genera l may employ outside legal 11
counsel to defend a legal challenge regarding the sufficiency of a recall 12
petition. 13
14
§ 4. Recall petitions for elected officials. 15
(a) The recall petition regarding an elected official shall be in 16
substantially the following form: 17
"PETITION FOR RECALL 18
To the Secretary of State [or the Attorney General, if the Secretary of State 19
is the subject of the recall petition]: 20
We, the undersigned legal voters of ________________________________________ 21
(Arkansas or District) 22
respectfully order that ____________________________________________________ 23
(Name of Elected Official) 24
be referred to the people of ___________________________________________ 25
(Arkansas or District) 26
to the end that the elected official may be approved or rejected by the vote 27
of the legal voters at an election to be held for this purpose; and each of 28
us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am 29
a legal voter of [Arkansas or district], and my printed name, date o f birth, 30
residence, city or town of residence, and date of signing this petition are 31
correctly written after my signature.” 32
(b)(1) Each sheet of each recall petition containing the signatures 33
shall be verified by the person who circulated the sheet of th e recall 34
petition by his or her affidavit attached to the recall petition. 35
(2) The affidavit shall be in substantially the following form: 36 SJR2
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"STATE OF ARKANSAS ) 1
COUNTY_____________ ) 2
I, ________________________, under oath, state that the above -listed persons 3
signed this sheet, and each of them signed his or her name on this sheet in 4
my presence. I believe that each has correctly stated his or her name, date 5
of birth, residence, city or town of residence, and date of signing the 6
petition. 7
Signature ____________________________________________ 8
Address ________________________________________________ 9
Subscribed and sworn to before me this the ______day of ________, ____. 10
Signature ____________________________________________________ 11
Notary Public 12
My Commission Expires: ____________________________________." 13
(c) A petition shall be sufficient if it substantially follows the 14
format of this section, disregarding clerical and technical errors. 15
16
§ 5. Ballot. 17
(a) At the election the recall proposal shall be printed on the ballot 18
in substantially the following form: 19
Name: Office: 20
“For Permitting _______________________ ________________________to 21
continue to serve the term of office for which elected ........ .... /_/ 22
23
Name: Office: 24
Against Permitting ____________________ ______________________ to 25
continue to serve the term of office for which elected ........... /_/.” 26
(b)(1) If at the election a majority of the qualified electors voting 27
on the recall proposal vote against permitting the elected official to 28
continue to serve the term of office to which he or she was elected, an 29
immediate vacancy shall exist in the office, and the vacancy shall be filled 30
in the manner prescribed by law. 31
(2) If at the election a majority of the qualified electors 32
voting on the recall proposal vote for permitting the elected official to 33
continue to serve the term of office for which he or she elected, the elected 34
official shall serve the full term for which he or she was elected. 35
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§ 6. Frequency of recall. 1
After one (1) recall petition and election, no further recall petition 2
shall be filed against the same elected official during the same term of 3
office. 4
5
§ 7. Recall expenses. 6
All expenses of an election for the recall of an elected official shall 7
be paid for in the same manner and from the same source as provided by 8
applicable law for election expenses. 9
10
§ 8. Ballot question. 11
(a) A recall proposal shall be considered a ballot question for 12
purposes of applicable laws on measures referred to voters. 13
(b) An elected official, any person or entity acting on behalf of an 14
elected official, or any other person or entity who receives contributions or 15
makes expenditures for the purpose of attempting to influenc e the 16
qualification, passage, or defeat of a recall petition or recall proposal 17
shall be considered a ballot question committee and shall comply with 18
applicable laws on measures referred to voters. 19
20
SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This amendment shall be e ffective on and 21
after January 1, 2025. 22
23
SECTION 3. BALLOT TITLE AND POPULAR NAME. When this proposed 24
amendment is submitted to the electors of this state on the general election 25
ballot: 26
(1) The title of this Joint Resolution shall be the ballot 27
title; and 28
(2) The popular name shall be "A Constitutional Amendment t o 29
Create a Procedure for the Recall of Persons Elected to the Offices of 30
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, 31
Treasurer of State, Auditor of State, Comm issioner of State Lands, Member of 32
the House of Representatives, Member of the Senate, Chief Justice of the 33
Supreme Court, Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Judge of the Court of 34
Appeals, Judge of the Court of Appeals, Circuit Judge, District Judge, or 35
Prosecuting Attorney". 36