Arkansas May Enforce Ballot Petition Signature Rules: 8th Cir.

The First Amendment rights of Arkansas voters are not violated by a state law that requires them to sign ballot initiative petitions in front of a canvasser, the Eighth Circuit ruled Thursday in a case sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nor are the rights of canvassers violated by a requirement that they sign an affidavit in the presence of a notary certifying the petition signatures were properly collected, the court said.

The decision lifts a permanent injunction issued by a district court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said in reversing that ruling that the lower court ...