Swift ruling promised in redistricting case

FAYETTEVILLE — U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes questioned Tuesday whether the state’s in-person requirement for signing a petition to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot was an unreasonable restriction on free speech rights.

Holmes made his comments during a hearing in a case that could decide if Arkansas’ process of drawing legislative and congressional district boundary lines will go to voters this year for a major change.

The judge assured the parties in the suit he would rule without any needless delay but didn’t indicate when. He

held the hourlong hearing by videoconference because of covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

Electronic signature is a widely accepted practice in legal proceedings, Holmes said.

William Bird, attorney for the state in this case, argued the requirement was valid and deemed necessary by the state to prevent fraud.

The nonprofit group Arkansas Voters First wants a constitutional amendment to require an independent commission to draw district boundaries.

Current law vests the power in three of the state’s constitutional officers for legislative districts and in the state Legislature for congressional boundaries.

Having those boundaries set by partisan elected officials leaves the process open to manipulating borders for partisan advantage, the group claims.

Those districts are redrawn every 10 years, after each U.S. Census. The 10-year interval between census takings is prescribed by the U.S. Constitution.

A census is underway now with the results scheduled to be complete by Dec. 31. Redrawing legislative and congressional district boundaries after the census is also prescribed by law. There will be no chance to change the redistricting process in time to affect results before 2030 if this measure isn’t on the ballot this year, the plaintiffs argue.

State law requires petitions to place a measure on the ballot in November’s general election to have 89,151 signatures of registered voters, a number set by calculating 10% of the votes in the last gubernatorial election. The law also requires signatures come from at least 15 of the state’s 75 counties.

Gathering petition signatures statewide is almost impossible during a pandemic, according to the lawsuit Voters First filed April 22 in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville. The suit also asks the court to allow electronic petition signatures.

State pandemic-control measures such as banning large gatherings along with petition requirements banning electronic signatures make it impossible to gather enough signatures and violates the amendment proponents’ rights, the lawsuit argues.

The suit asks the court to extend to September the July 3 state deadline for submitting petitions to get the measure certified for the ballot.

Holmes said the Voters First group waited until March, when the census process was already underway, to begin its petition drive.

He questioned whether the plaintiffs gave themselves enough time to successfully complete a petition drive even if the pandemic had not hit.

“If this is an opportunity that only comes every 10 years, why did you wait until March?” he asked.

Plaintiff’s attorney Ruth Greenwood said other petition measure in recent years gathered more than enough signatures in a similar time frame.

“We started early by Arkansas standards,” she said. Doug Thompson can be reached by email at dthompson@nwadg. com or on Twitter @NWADoug.