Voters to Decide Four Ballot Issues

RISON - Voters in Cleveland County and across Arkansas will be deciding four ballot issues during the upcoming Nov. 8 general election. The issues being proposed include: an amendment to allow the legislature to call special legislative sessions; an amendment requiring a 60 percent signature threshold for citizen-initiated ballot issues; a religious freedoom amendment to the state constitution; and an amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Public Policy Institute publishes a Voters Guide that gives voters a balanced view of the issues being proposed. The following are excerpts from that voting guide pertaining to each of the four ballot issues that will be decided Nov. 8. A copy of the entire Voters Guide can be found at the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension Office at 501 East Magnolia in Rison; or a copy can also be downloaded online at https:// www.uaex.uada.edu. Issue 1 Popular Name: A constitutional amendment to allow the General Assembly to convene in extraordinary session upon the issuance of a joint written proclamation of the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate or upon the submission of a written proclamation containing the signatures of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the House of Representatives and at least two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Senate to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate requesting that the General Assembly convene in extraordinary session. What is being proposed? Arkansas legislators have proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would give them the authority to call special meetings of the legislature (formally called the General Assembly) at any time. Currently, only the governor has that authority. This proposal would amend Section 5 of Article 5 of the Arkansas Consti...