LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansans turned in signatures Friday ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline in an attempt to get constitutional amendments on the November ballot.
The process began around 11 a.m. on the second floor of the Arkansas State Capitol, where the petitions were to be delivered.
The signatures for the medical marijuana amendment were delivered first, followed shortly by those for the casino amendment.
The first would allow some medical marijuana to be grown at home, and the other looks to remove Pope County from the original casino amendment passed in 2018.
A representative for the casino push told us they believe they far exceeded the 90,000 signature requirement.
"Today, our ballot question committee turned in over 162,000 signatures in support of our amendment to the Constitution,” Hans Stiritz said.
The abortion petitions were delivered shortly after 2:30 p.m. as supporters and opponents of the amendment packed the Capitol.
If this amendment makes it onto the ballot, voters will have the chance to expand abortion access in Arkansas. Opponents protested silently while supporters cheered as the signatures came in.
"I have never met a more amazing group of people in Arkansas in my life,” said Kellie Cobb, who spearheaded the petition effort in Sebastian County. “Today, we're just going to cheer them on when they walk in those boxes."
The abortion petition also claims to have reached the requirements, but their number is much closer at just over 100,000 signatures in 53 counties.
A few hours later, the feminine hygiene products petition arrived, which would remove the state sales tax on products such as tampons and diapers.
Now, the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office will begin to count and verify signatures.
"We're getting all the laptops and computer banks ready,” said Chris Powell, press secretary for the Arkansas Secretary of State. “Each signature is matched against the voter registration database. It's not just a number of signatures they have to have."
The deadline to determine which amendments will be on the ballot is Aug. 22, but the Secretary of State’s office will start working now.
They've hired 90 temporary workers to assist their staff in ensuring the petitions have the required number of legitimate signatures.
"We'll do an 8:00 to 4:30 shift,” Powell said. “And a 5:00 to 8:00 shift in the evening, so that's 12 hours a day for the next month... we've got our work cut out for us."
For a full breakdown of how each proposed initiative performed ahead of the deadline in Arkansas, you can click here.