Arkansas election officials reject petitions submitted for an abortion-rights ballot measure

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas election officials on Wednesday rejected petitions submitted for an abortion-rights ballot measure that organizers hoped to put before voters this fall in a predominantly Republican state.

The secretary of state’s office rejected the petitions submitted on Friday by supporters of the proposal, saying the group didn’t submit statements required regarding paid signature gatherers.

Organizers on Friday submitted more than 101,000 signatures. They needed at least 90,704 signatures from registered voters and a minimum number from 50 counties.

In his letter to organizers, Secretary of State John Thurston said that even if his office accepted the signatures it determined came from volunteers the total would amount to 87,382, below the required amount.

A spokesperson for Arkansans for Limited Government, the group behind the measure, said its legal team was reviewing the state’s letter.

The measure would have barred laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allowed the procedure later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth.

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