The Arkansas Constitution has been amended more than 100 times. This year’s proposed amendments — Issues No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 — give voters no reason to change it yet again.
► Issue No. 1 would give the Legislature, whose members voted to place it on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot, the power to call itself into special session at any time. Currently, only the governor can authorize a special legislative session. The state Constitution calls for the Legislature to meet every year. More than that, unless authorized by the governor, is a terrifying prospect.
► Issue No. 2 would increase the percentage of votes required to pass most ballot issues from a simple majority — 50% plus one — to 60%. This is an attack on majority rule. Is the state Constitution too easy to amend? Yes, but taking power from the people isn’t the fix.
► Issue No. 3, the “Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment,” is unnecessary. The state Constitution, not to mention the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as a host of other state and federal laws, already protects the free exercise of religion.
► Issue No. 4 would legalize recreational marijuana. Although we don’t necessarily oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana, we do oppose this effort. It would grant, if not a monopoly, then at least a huge head start to the existing medical marijuana cultivators and dispensers who were granted their licenses in a process that has been riddled with allegations of impropriety from the very beginning.
Polls show a slim majority of Arkansans support Issue 4, and we know that support generally for legalizing recreational cannabis is growing. But Issue 4, which codifies in the state Constitution a deeply flawed process, is not the way to do it.
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