Arkansas Supreme Court tosses Cleburne County paper ballot initiative suit

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Thursday decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court marks the end of the line for an effort in Cleburne County to place a decision on paper ballots before voters.

The suit was filed to mandate Cleburne County Clerk Rachelle Evans to allow a ballot initiative to appear on the 2026 ballot for voters to mandate the use of “Hand Marked, Hand Counted” paper ballots in the county. The initiative had originally been filed for the 2024 election. It was rejected by Evans, who found irregularities with the signature-gathering canvassers who were not residents of Arkansas, as required by law.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Thursday decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court marks the end of the line for an effort in Cleburne County to place a decision on paper ballots before voters.

The canvassers in question responded with affidavits stating that they were residents, listing their address as a hotel in Conway. Evans continued to refuse to count the signatures this group gathered.

The person who wanted the signatures counted sued in Cleburne County Circuit Court, which granted the request and ordered the clerk to count the signatures. The matter was then appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

In the decision, Supreme Court justices maintained that the ballot initiative was not filed in a timely manner. The petition was filed too early for the 2024 election and too late for the 2026 election, the court wrote in its decision.

The court then reversed the circuit court’s order and dismissed the case, maintaining that a circuit court cannot require certification of an untimely initiative in its decision.

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