LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas group looking to put the state's Freedom of Information law into the constitution is suing Attorney General Tim Griffin with claims that he is refusing to certify the ballot title.
The lawsuit, which was announced on Tuesday, Jan. 23 by Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, is the latest effort to get the measure to appear on the ballot in the 2024 elections.
In the suit, the transparency group said that Griffin's continued rejections of the issue's wording interfered with the "constitutional right to propose an amendment to the Arkansas constitution free from interference."
"The petitions are required to be submitted to the Arkansas Secretary of State on or before July 5, 2024. Each day the Attorney General delays approval of the popular name and ballot title makes the Petitioner’s effort to collect the signatures more difficult and burdensome," the group said in the lawsuit.
Within 10 days, the state's attorney general must either approve a ballot title or "substitute and certify a more suitable and correct ballot title and popular name," according to Arkansas law.
The group claims Griffin neither approved nor substituted a popular or ballot title for the proposed constitutional amendment. They claim the ballot titles submitted by them "briefly and concisely stated the purpose" of the act and "were not misleading."
The proposed amendment would not only enshrine the state's Freedom of Information Act into the constitution, but it would also add protections for the law and stricter penalties for those who violate it.
"It is not the Attorney General’s right to effectively decide the fate of this measure by denying approval of a popular name and ballot title," the group said. "In addition, the Attorney General is not the final arbiter of the sufficiency of a popular name or ballot title. That role belongs with this Court."
The case will be heard by the Arkansas Supreme Court to decide the fate of the FOIA ballot measure.
In response to the Arkansas Citizens for Transparency's lawsuit, the attorney general issued the following statement:
"When reviewing proposed ballot initiatives, I follow an 80-year-old process. The law does not allow me to consider my own personal views. I am guided by the law and the law alone. I routinely certify proposals I personally oppose. Conversely, I routinely reject proposals I personally support," said Attorney General Tim Griffin.