Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 210 3
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By: Senator K. Hammer 5
By: Representative Underwood 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE REQUIRE EXAMINING OF 9
AUTHORITATIVE DOCUMENTS ACT; TO AMEND THE LAW 10
CONCERNING INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITIONS; TO 11
REQUIRE THE SIGNER TO READ THE BALLOT TITLE OF THE 12
PETITION IN THE PRESENCE OF A CANVASSER; TO DECLARE 13
AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 14
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Subtitle 17
TO REQUIRE THE SIGNER TO READ THE BALLOT 18
TITLE OF THE PETITION IN THE PRESENCE OF 19
A CANVASSER; AND TO DECLARE AN 20
EMERGENCY. 21
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
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SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Title. 25
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Require Examining of 26
Authoritative Documents Act". 27
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-103(a)(1)(A), concerning the signing of 29
initiative and referendum petitions, is amended to read as follows: 30
(a)(1)(A) A After reading the ballot title of the petition in the 31
presence of the canvasser or having the ballot title of the petition read 32
aloud to him or her in the presence of the canvasser, a person who is a 33
registered voter of this state may sign his or her own name and print his or 34
her own name, address, birth date, and the date of signing on an initiative 35
or referendum petition in his or her own proper handwriting, and not 36 SB210
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otherwise, to order an initiative or referendum vote upon a proposed 1
amendment or a proposed or referred act. 2
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-103(c), concerning misdemeanor offenses 4
for a person acting as a canvasser, notary, sponsor, or agent of a sponsor, 5
is amended to add an additional subdivision to read as follows: 6
(10) As a canvasser, knowingly accepts a signature when the 7
person signing the petition has not read the ballot title of the petition in 8
the presence of the canvasser or the ballot title of the petition has not 9
been read aloud to the person in the presence of the canvasser. 10
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SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-109(a) is amended to read as follows: 12
(a) Each petition containing signatures shall be verified in 13
substantially the following form by the canvasser's affidavit thereon as a 14
part thereof: "State of Arkansas 15
County of _____________ 16
I, (print name of canvasser), being duly sworn, state that each of the 17
foregoing persons signed his or her own name to this sheet of the petition in 18
my presence. To the best of my knowledge and belief, each signature is 19
genuine and each signer is a registered voter of the State of Arkansas, 20
_____________ County, or City or Incorporated Town of _____________. At all 21
times during the circulation of this signature sheet, an exact copy of the 22
popular name, ballot title, and text was attached to the signature sheet , and 23
each signer read the ballot title of the petition or had the ballot title of 24
the petition read to the signer in my presence . My current residence address 25
is correctly stated below. 26
Signature _____________ 27
Current residence _____________ 28
Indicate one: _____________ Paid Canvasser _____________ 29
Volunteer/Unpaid Canvasser 30
Subscribed and sworn to before me this _____________ day of 31
_____________, 20_____________ 32
Signature _____________ 33
Clerk, Notary, Judge, or J.P. 34
Seal _____________”. 35
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SECTION 5. DO NOT CODIFY. SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this act 1
are declared to be severable and the invalidity of any provision of this act 2
shall not affect other provisions of the act which can be given effect 3
without the invalid provision. 4
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SECTION 6. DO NOT CODIFY. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and 6
determined by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that the process 7
for citizens to propose initiated acts and amendments to the Arkansas 8
Constitution is critical to a well -functioning democracy in this state; that 9
it is of the utmost importance that the integrity of the initiative process 10
be strengthened through this act so that petitioners and voters maintain a 11
high degree of confidence in the soundness of their right to legislate as 12
citizens of Arkansas; and that this act is immediately necessary because any 13
delay in the implementation of this act would disrupt the initiative process 14
for the 2026 general election, which would have a detrimental effect on the 15
public peace, health, and safety of Arkansas. Therefore, an emergency is 16
declared to exist, and this act being immediately necessary for the 17
preservation of the public peace, health, and safety shall become effective 18
on: 19
(1) The date of its approval by the Governor; 20
(2) If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor, 21
the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the 22
bill; or 23
(3) If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is 24
overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto. 25
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