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Deadline for groups to turn in petitions is Monday Sunday, Jul 6, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Monday is the moment of truth for organizations trying to secure thousands of signatures to put citizen initiatives on the November ballot, sort of. Though groups have until the end of business Monday to turn in what signatures they have to the secretary of state's office, they will have an additional 30 days of canvassing to make up for any shortfall in the required number of valid signatures of registered voters. Lt. Gov. Bill Halter's campaign to put a state lottery proposal on the ballot has already submitted more than 138,000 signatures, well more than the roughly 78,000 needed to put measure before voters. Backers of an initiative to bar unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents in Arkansas have scheduled an afternoon news conference to submit signatures, though they admit they may need more to qualify for the ballot. However, two more groups were still gathering and counting signatures late last week. "It's going to come down to the wire," Jeannie Burlsworth, chairman of the Secure Arkansas group pushing a proposed initiated act to largely ban illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits in the state, said last week. "We've been out gathering (signatures) a little over seven weeks. Looks like the biggest majority are coming in right now. It's going to be close." Meanwhile, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said was not sure if his group would be able to get the signatures to get a proposed constitutional amendment that would lengthen county sheriffs' terms from two years to four years. The sheriff did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment late last week. At least 61,974 signatures are needed to qualify an initiated act for the Nov. 4 general election ballot. A proposed constitutional amendment needs at least 77,468 valid signatures. If the secretary of state's office, which counts the signatures, determines that a group lacks the number of required signatures, supporters have another 30 days to gather the rest. While Secure Arkansas the Arkansas Sheriff's Association struggle to meet Monday's deadline, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter and his group Hope Arkansas are waiting for their signatures to be counted. Halter's campaign turned in well more than that 77,486 signatures necessary for their proposed state lottery for scholarships constitutional amendment two weeks ago. The Family Council Action Committee, supporters of the proposed initiated act to ban unmarried couples from adopting or foster parenting, announced last week it had surpassed the 61,974 signatures necessary to qualify for the general election ballot. Committee spokesman Jerry Cox said his organization expects many of the signatures to be thrown out by the secretary of state's office, and will take advantage of the 30-day grace period to gather more. "Generally, about 20 percent of the signatures are invalid, so during the supplemental period I expect we'll make up whatever we have to," Cox said. The group expected to continued collecting signatures through the weekend. "We're in pretty shape but we will have some more work to do," Cox said. |
