§ 14-61-113 - Petition process for special elections. - Arkansas Statutes

14-61-113. Petition process for special elections.

Except for questions that may be referred to the voters by the board of directors, unless it is a city where a federal court has ordered the redistricting of wards under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, options provided by this chapter shall be voted on at special elections called as a result of a petition for the special election being filed with the city clerk and provided to the mayor. The following procedure shall be utilized for initial elections to organize under the management form of government, for reorganization elections by a city already operating under the management form of government, and for elections to reorganize the selection of directors in cities where a federal court has ordered the redistricting of wards under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965:

(1) A petition that calls for an election on one (1) particular option for selecting members of the board of directors using the form of the question outlined in 14-61-115(b) shall be filed with the city clerk and provided to the mayor. The city clerk shall note on the petition the date and time that it was filed. If such a petition contains the signatures of electors equal in number to fifteen percent (15%) of the number of ballots cast for the mayor, or if the mayor is not directly elected, for the director position receiving the highest number of votes in the last general election, then the mayor by proclamation in accordance with 7-11-201 et seq. shall submit the question to the electors at a special election, provided:

(A) (i) The city clerk shall verify the number of signatures on the petitions within ten (10) days of the date they are filed.

(ii) If there are insufficient signatures on the petitions, the petitioners shall not receive any extensions for the petition.

(iii) If, however, there are a sufficient number of signatures on the petitions but the city clerk is unable to verify the required number of signatures as those of qualified electors, then the petitioners will be given ten (10) days to provide a sufficient number of verified signatures;

(B) The proclamation calling the special election shall be issued within three (3) working days of the date the city clerk verifies the number of signatures on the petitions;

(C) The special election shall be held not more than sixty (60) days after the proclamation calling the election, provided that if the county board of election commissioners certifies in writing that it cannot prepare the ballots because of other pending elections, then the election can be held not more than ninety (90) days after the proclamation.

(2) Except for the provisions of subdivision (1)(A) of this section, if petitions filed with the mayor that call for an election on one (1) of the options set forth in this chapter are found to be insufficient for any reason whatsoever, then new petitions will have to be circulated and filed before the question can be considered again.

(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (2) of this section, if two (2) or more groups file petitions seeking a special election on one (1) of the options set forth in this chapter and the first filed petitions are declared to be insufficient, then the city clerk will determine the sufficiency of the petitions that were filed next in time. Otherwise, upon a declaration that a set of petitions is sufficient and the first in time, then all petitions filed after the first sufficient petitions and before the special election shall be deemed moot and may be destroyed.

(4) Once an election has been held pursuant to the provisions of any act that results in a change in the manner of selecting the governing body of a city with the manager form of government or seeks to reorganize a manager-government city under any other form of government, then none of the options presented by this chapter or any act concerning the organization of the government under any form of municipal government may be submitted to the voters for a period of four (4) years from the date of the election.

(5) Except as provided in 14-61-114(a), if an election held pursuant to the provisions of any act fails to result in a change in the manner of selecting the governing body of a city with the manager form of government or fails to reorganize such a city under any other form of government, then no other petitions seeking to adopt any of the options presented by this chapter or to reorganize the city under any form of municipal government may be submitted to the voters for a period of two (2) years from the date of the election.