Great Good News!
Arkansas Supreme Court orders initial signature count for abortion amendment
The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that the thousands of signatures gathered by supporters of an abortion amendment must be tallied up by the Secretary of State.
Reported on THV11
www.thv11.com/…
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Tuesday night, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the 100,000-plus signatures that were gathered by supporters of an abortion amendment must be tallied up by Secretary of State John Thurston.
It was an order that came from a majority of the justices in a lawsuit filed by those supporters. The order calls on Secretary of State John Thurston to get an initial count of the signatures that were gathered by volunteer canvassers.
…
The initial count will determine its next steps and has to be done by the morning of July 29, and the Arkansas Supreme Court will hold another hearing after that.
In response to the Supreme Court's ruling, the AFLG released the following statement:
"Today, the will of the people won. The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the Secretary of State to count the signatures collected by volunteers in support of the Arkansas Abortion Amendment. On behalf of 101,000 Arkansas voters, 800 volunteers, and the AFLG team, we thank the Court for upholding democracy in Arkansas.
So not only does Thurston have to count the signatures, he has to report back to the court on July 29. This means to me that they aren’t done enforcing the lawsuit with this ruling.
If Thurston does not report back then the court has the option of requiring the referendum to appear on the ballot as requested by Arkansans For Limited Government in the lawsuit.
If Thurston does report back I expect they will scrutinize the count and make sure that the appropriate curing period happens, if required.
Secretary Of State Thurston and Attorney General Griffin overstepped so now the Arkansas Supreme Court is in charge of validating the petition and seeing that the referendum is placed on the ballot if statutory requirements are met.
And when Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “today the far left pro-abortion crowd in Arkansas showed they are both immoral and incompetent”, she was the lying sack of shit we have come to expect her to be. Not only was Arkansans For Limited Government not incompetent they won their suit and now the Arkansas Supreme Court has taken the wheel from Thurston and is overseeing the count and the ballot.
As I mentioned yesterday the 1 2 3 punches from the Secretary Of State, the Governor, and the Attorney General stinks of collusion. The reason why the Arkansas government has been fighting against freedom of information requests from the press is because the are not capable of colluding like this without leaving a paper trail. Do you see what I did there. Now I’m calling them incompetent.
What we know now does not prove improper collusion to deprive Arkansas citizens of their voting rights but it certainly warrants further investigation.
This could be bigger than podiumgate.
Also reported in the comments yesterday.
Iowa's 6-week abortion ban to take effect Monday
www.dailykos.com/…
From the AP reported on DailyKos.
An Iowa judge has ruled the state's strict abortion law will take effect Monday, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
The law passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. The Iowa Supreme Court reiterated in June that there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted. That translated into Monday's district court judge's decision ordering the law to into effect next Monday at 8:00 a.m. Central time.
…
There are limited circumstances under the Iowa law that would allow for abortion after six weeks of pregnancy: rape, if reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days; incest, if reported within 145 days; if the fetus has an abnormality “incompatible with life”; or if the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life.
So it’s another wait in the parking lot of the emergency room until you’re about to die law.
Can they pass a referendum in Ohio? We will pass it in Arkansas if we can get on the ballot.
Action!
Now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive nominee I have a new action point.
Wouldn’t it be great if Harris mentioned the situation in Arkansas. It’s a perfect example of top Republican governance illegally fighting against abortion rights and voting rights/democracy, our two top platform items. And it’s not just Arkansas. It’s a national movement by Republicans to deny democracy to abortion rights activists that is happening and has happened in Montana and other states.
How do we suggest this? How do we get this placed in front of Harris? I can see her wanting to talk about this. It fits right in with her main talking points.
And, Lord knows, we need someone to shine a light on this situation in Arkansas. My first diary on this topic was titled We Need Help In Arkansas and that’s still the truth.
Join the email list at arliberty.org. This will keep you abreast of the latest news from AFLG.
And donate
Donation page here, arliberty.org/… Merch page here, shop.arliberty.org
Even though they won their lawsuit in Montana there’s still a fight ahead to get the amendment on the ballot. You didn’t think the Republicans were going to quit their voter nullification just because a judge told them to? (rhetorical question)
Donate to the Montana effort.
mtreprorights.org
Rec this diary for exposure. I’m following this story daily and I can’t wait to report that the Secretary Of State’s office folds and they are counting the signatures.
(Yep, I can leave this out in the future. Done did that! Check mark made and enjoyed.)
If you live in Arkansas and you haven’t registered to vote please do that now. If you don’t know how to register go to the AFLG website at arliberty.org. They will help you get registered to vote. We will need you to vote on the amendment after the signatures are counted and it gets on the ballot. (Speaking optimistically)
Here’s a good link for voter registration nationwide. If you aren’t registered register now. If you think you’re registered, check. Don’t wait until election day to find out you’ve been purged.
www.vote.org
Please post your news on this national issue in the comments.
Please add more action links and strategies in the comments.
There’s a reason why Republicans are doing this. If the amendments are put on the ballot they will pass. Republicans know this but they don’t care about voter’s rights any more than they care about abortion rights.
Count the signatures!
Count the signatures!
Thanks
