This November, Arkansas voters will decide four important statewide ballot issues. The League of Women Voters of Arkansas examined what each proposal would mean for our democracy, our communities, and the public’s ability to hold government accountable. Guided by our longstanding policy positions, our board of directors has approved the following positions.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas opposes Issue 1. Arkansas’s Constitution already requires a voter to be a United States citizen, and Issue 1 would add new constitutional language addressing something already prohibited under existing law.
The League evaluates constitutional amendments by asking whether they address matters of such acute and abiding importance that the Constitution must be changed, whether they respond to extreme problems or long-term needs, and whether they make our political system more democratic or protect individual rights. Based on those longstanding League principles and the League’s commitment to the principle that voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed, LWVAR opposes adding unnecessary language to the Arkansas Constitution where existing constitutional protections already address the stated issue. Learn more about Issue 1 here.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas opposes Issue 2. When evaluating constitutional amendments, the League considers whether they conform to established League positions and whether their language may have unintended consequences. Our opposition to Issue 2 is not based on the amendment’s recognition of lawful hunting or recreational use of firearms. The concern is the proposal’s much broader constitutional language stating that the right to keep and bear arms includes “without limitation” the possession and use of ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components, while also declaring that right shall not be infringed.
LWVAR’s position is grounded in LWV policy, which states that the League supports regulating firearms for consumer safety and supports licensing procedures for gun ownership that include background checks, personal identity verification, and gun-safety education. Issue 2’s broad constitutional expansion of firearm rights is inconsistent with the League’s longstanding support for reasonable firearm regulation to protect public health and safety. Learn more about Issue 2 here.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas opposes Issue 3. The League supports responsible economic development, but Issue 3 would place broad new taxing, bonding, and economic-development authority in the Arkansas Constitution while leaving many of the rules and safeguards governing that authority for future legislatures to decide.
When evaluating Issue 3, LWVAR considered whether this constitutional amendment may create unintended consequences and whether the objectives can be better achieved through legislation. Our opposition is not based on the proposed economic development but on granting this breadth of constitutional authority without clearer safeguards, accountability, and protections for public revenue. Learn more about Issue 3 here.
Issue 4 asks voters to approve a specific financing mechanism: up to $500 million in general-obligation bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the State of Arkansas, with debt service receiving priority from state general revenues. Many of the programs Issue 4 would fund are consistent with longstanding League positions, including water resource programs and policies that reflect the interrelationships of water quality, water quantity, groundwater, and surface water; measures to reduce water pollution; and protections for drinking water supplies. The League also supports policies that accelerate pollution control, including public financial assistance for state and local programs.
However, League positions state that the public has a right to participate in decision-making at each phase in the process and at each level of government involvement and should have adequate information about resource-management policies and options. Issue 4 establishes executive and legislative review but does not itself establish a specific public-participation process for bond planning. For that reason, LWVAR takes no position on Issue 4 while recognizing that many of the water, wastewater, and pollution-control purposes it would fund are consistent with League policy. Learn more about Issue 4 here.
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