Secure Arkansaspetitions short of signatures
Secure Arkansas apparently will not qualify its constitutional amendment for the 2010 ballot. The amendment aimed to prohibit public benefits for undocumented immigrants, though Arkansas officials have said few, if any, are being provided. The measure is viewed as an attempt to discourage immigrant settlement in Arkansas.
and today there was this update:
We still have no explanation on how Secure Arkansas claimed to have 10,000 signatures more than they submitted for its constitutional amendment to place burdens on immigrants in Arkansas.
The outfit has never run with much precision, but you’d still think simple counting would be within its abilities. It is important tthat petition gatherers be held accountable. You can easily envision where petition gatherers might misrepresent their signatures in an attempt to qualify for the extended window for gaining additional signatures that comes if you meet the threshhold for raw, uncertified signatures. Secure Arkansas was soliciting additional signatures on its website, for example, even as the secretary of state’s counting was underway.
What happened here? Secretary of State Charlie Daniels should find out and explain if Secure Arkansas will not. But tough-talking Jeannie Burlsworth, she of the hyperlegality about immigrants, has some explaining of her own to do, too. What part of telling the truth doesn’t she understand?