As coronavirus continues to upend the election cycle and fights over voter access to the polls weave through the courts, candidate access to ballots has become just as difficult. On Wednesday, Arkansas Voters First and the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit seeking to relieve some of the petitioning
As coronavirus continues to upend the election cycle and fights over voter access to the polls weave through the courts, candidate access to ballots has become just as difficult.
“We have a right to petition our government to amend our constitution. We don’t have the luxury of waiting until next year,” said Bonnie Miller, Director of Arkansas Voters First and President of the League of Women Voters of Washington County. “If we are denied access to the ballot this year, Arkansas could be stuck with unfair and unrepresentative districts for another ten years.”
Suits were filed against state officials in Illinois and Georgia, where the parties and some candidates argue that ballot options are being stifled amid coronavirus. The plaintiffs in that case were granted preliminary injunctions which waive the signature requirement temporarily. Other fights in Ohio, Arizona and Maine are moving through the courts in an attempt to gain access to the ballot, giving voters the option to take up constitutional amendments in their upcoming elections.
The group is seeking to allow for signatures to be collected online, extend the deadline from July 1 to Aug. 21, and lower the required number of signatures by nearly half .
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