Arkansas advocates for a proposed constitutional amendment to remove Pope County as a potential casino site said they collected and turned in nearly 103,000 signatures from registered voters.
Ballot committees had until last Friday to submit their signatures to the Secretary of State’s office in order to qualify for their proposed measure to appear on the ballot for the November 8 general election.
In addition to meeting the deadline, ballot committees are required to collect at least 89,151 signatures from registered voters, or 10% of votes cast in 2018’s governor election, to qualify for a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. Committees must also gather the required minimum number of signatures from at least 15 counties to qualify.
Fair Play for Arkansas 2022 President James Knight said the committed filed 20,913 petition parts that contained 103,096 signatures from registered voters. The parts were sent Friday afternoon to the Secretary of State's office.
Fair Play for Arkansas 2022 committee spokesman Hans Stiritz said, "Obviously we are thrilled with the results."
Stiritz also said canvassers in preparation for anticipated legal challenges, will continue to collect signatures during the next few weeks.
Attorney David Couch, who represents the Cherokee Nation Businesses and the Arkansas Tourism Alliance, said he doubts that the Fair Play for Arkansas 2022 committee can qualify for the 30-day cure period to collect additional signatures.
Couch said in a written statement: "Considering the historical validity rate of petitions in the state of Arkansas, as well as the population of registered voters ... they will not meet the minimum numbers required to initiate the petitions.
"Furthermore, a mountain of evidence exists to challenge significant improprieties pertaining to Fair Play's signature-gathering efforts, including gross misrepresentation by canvassers of the ballot petition's purpose, employment of persons with criminal backgrounds and improper notarization of petitions.”
He went on to add that he is confident tax revenues and jobs will continue to stay in Arkansas.
"We remain optimistic and will continue the fight to keep the constitutional amendment voters approved in 2018 intact, keeping billions of dollars in tax revenue and thousands of good-paying jobs in the state of Arkansas," Couch said.
Stiritz released a statement saying the Fair Play for Arkansas 2022 committee “has called on the state to investigate the Arkansas Tourism Alliance committee for potential petition fraud.”
"Our canvassers have faced assault, physical intimidation, harassment and other threats," he said.
Cherokee Nation Businesses spokeswoman Allison Burum said that Cherokee Nation Businesses has acquired 140 acres for the development and will continue to secure land upon receiving the necessary state permits and at the resolution of outstanding state litigation.
Burum said in a written statement: "On Monday, July 11, we will put forth the large-scale development plan to the Russellville Planning Commission for review and anticipated approval.”
