Campaign finance requirements for Arkansas ballot measures
 in Arkansas |
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Groups and individuals involved in ballot measure campaigns in Arkansas must adhere to the state's campaign finance laws. These laws regulate the amounts and sources of money given or received for political purposes; in addition, campaign finance laws stipulate disclosure requirements for political contributions and expenditures.
Proponents of more stringent regulations and disclosure requirements, such as the Brennan Center for Justice, claim that current laws do not go far enough to mitigate corruption and the influence of undisclosed special interests. Others, such as the Institute for Free Speech, argue that strict disclosure requirements and contribution limits impinge upon the rights to privacy and free expression.[1][2]
| In Arkansas, groups that support or oppose ballot measures must register with the state ethics commission as ballot question or legislative question committees. |
The laws and regulations that apply to ballot measure campaigns may differ from those that apply to candidates for political office. To learn more about campaign finance requirements for candidates, see this article.
Arkansas ballot measures
- See also: Ballot measure
A ballot measure is any question or issue that appears on an election ballot to be approved or rejected by voters. In 26 states, plus Washington, D.C., citizens may use the initiative and referendum process, which permits citizens to petition to place measures on the ballot and usually involves a signature collection process of some kind. Even in states without initiative and referendum processes, however, ballot measures exist. In all states, citizens may be asked to approve legislatively referred constitutional amendments, state statutes, bond issues or tax proposals.
In Arkansas, ballot measures come in the following forms: legislatively referred state statutes, initiated state statutes, legislatively referred constitutional amendments, initiated constitutional amendments, and veto referenda.
Organizational requirements
In Arkansas, a "petition sponsor or group who receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of $500 for purposes of expressly advocating the passage or defeat of an initiative" must form a ballot question committee. In order to do so, the group must file a statement of organization with the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Similarly, a group that raises or spends more than $500 in support of or opposition to a referendum must form a legislative question committee. This type of committee must also file a statement of organization with the state ethics commission.[3][4]
See form: Ballot Question Committee Statement of Organization
Contribution limits
In Arkansas, ballot question and legislative question committees cannot accept cash contributions exceeding $100. A ballot question or legislative question committee cannot spent more than $50 in cash "in conjunction with expressly advocating the qualification, disqualification, passage or defeat of a ballot question ... or legislative question." A committee cannot accept an anonymous contribution exceeding $50. Contributions and expenditures are otherwise unlimited.[5]
Reporting requirements
Both ballot question and legislative question committees must file regular financial disclosure reports. These reports detail a committee's receipts and disbursements during a specified reporting period.[6]
- Monthly reports must be filed no later than 15 days after the end of each month.
- Pre-election reports must be filed no later than seven days prior to the election. The reporting period begins on the close of the most recently monthly report and ends 10 days prior to the election.
- Post-election reports must be filed no later than 30 days after the election.
For all contributions exceeding $100, a committee must report the name and address of the contributor. For all expenditures exceeding $100, a committee must report the name and address of the recipient.[7]
In order to disband, a committee must notify the Arkansas Ethics Commission. The committee must dispose of all funds in any of the following manners:[5]
- by turning funds over to the state treasurer
- by giving funds to a political party or party caucus
- by donating the funds to a 501(c)(3) group
- by returning the funds to contributors
State agencies
- See also: Campaign finance agencies in Arkansas
In Arkansas, there are two primary agencies involved in campaign finance regulation: the Arkansas Ethics Commission and the Arkansas Secretary of State. The former serves as "the compliance and enforcement agency" for the state's disclosure laws, which apply to candidates, political committees, public officials, and loybbists. The latter serves as the reporting agency for candidates and political committees.[8][9]
- Arkansas Ethics Commission
- P.O. Box 1917
- Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-1917
- Telephone: (800) 422-7773
- Arkansas Secretary of State, Elections Division
- State Capitol, Suite 256
- 500 Woodlane Street
- Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
- Telephone: 501-682-5070
- Email: electionsemail@sos.arkansas.gov
Campaign finance legislation
The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Arkansas state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Arkansas campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Campaign finance requirements in Arkansas
- Campaign finance agencies in Arkansas
- List of Arkansas ballot measures
External links
Additional reading
Footnotes
- ↑ Institute for Free Speech, "Money in Politics," accessed September 4, 2017
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Money in Politics," accessed September 4, 2017
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2015-16 Initiatives and Referenda," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Ethics Commission, "Ballot Question Committee Statement of Organization," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arkansas Ethics Commission, "Rules on Ballot and Legislative Question Committees," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Ethics Commission, "Rules on Ballot and Legislative Question Committees," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ Institute for Justice, "Campaign Finance Red Tape: Strangling Free Speech and Political Debate," October 2007
- ↑ Arkansas Ethics Commission, "About the Commission," accessed July 28, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Code, "Title 7, Chapter 6, Subchapter 2, Section 207," accessed July 28, 2015
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