LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Citizens for Arkansas Public Education, also known as CAPES, is continuing to collect signatures this weekend to get the Arkansas LEARNS Act on the 2024 ballot for voters.
"This is our big super signing weekend," CAPES Pulaski County Leader Kennedy Kasten said.
In June, the Arkansas LEARNS Act was paused for the second time due to a lawsuit in the Arkansas Supreme Court. The lawsuit argues that the emergency clause attached to the bill was not voted on correctly.
CAPES has been working to get as many signatures as possible before its deadline on July 31. The group has even added several drive-thru petition sites so people can sign from the comfort of their cars.
“We have really pushed our social media this weekend," Kasten said. "We've sent out emails. People have been signing up on our website saying, 'I want to sign. Tell me where I can go.'"
The group is canvassing in a handful of areas this weekend. On Saturday, Kasten and other CAPES volunteers gathered signatures at the Echo Valley Neighborhood Park.
“We need just over 54,000 signatures across the state," Kasten said. "We had to have 3% of the last voting population of the governor's election for a county to count [and] we need 50 counties throughout the state."
According to Kasten, they've reached their goal in Pulaski County.
“We have had great efforts that have really paid off for us," Kasten said. "Now we're just trying to help hit that total number."
Although things are trending up, CAPES isn't slowing down its efforts. The group has volunteers across the state, including Pulaski County, hoping to get more signatures.
“We wanted to meet people where they're at," Kasten said. "Make this super easy and efficient, and simultaneously be in as many places."
Many people were happy to sign, including teacher Katherine Kroeker.
“There are good things about the LEARNS Act," Kroeker said. "But there are, by far, so many things that make it not good... it needs to be brought to people's attention."
Kroeker hopes petitions, like the one she signed with CAPES, will help spread awareness and allow Arkansas voters to decide on the LEARNS Act.
“Now that people are here, and they're saying we don't like this," Koreker said. "People are coming to help us try to take it back. It's encouraging to me."
No matter what the court decides, the LEARNS Act goes back into effect on Aug. 1.