Opinion ID: 2382879
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standards for determining this suit

Text: The gravamen of petitioners' complaint is that the vote should not be certified because the ballot title does not convey the true scope and the significance of the proposal and, in addition, is misleading. An adequate ballot title is one that impartially discloses all material matters. It must be (1) intelligible, (2) honest, and (3) impartial. Leigh v. Hall, 232 Ark. 558, 562, 339 S.W.2d 104, 107 (1960). There is a distinction between the omission of a material matter and a misleading statement in ballot titles. It is not necessary to disclose all provisions of the text of the proposal in the ballot title; otherwise, the full text of the proposal would be necessary. Gaines v. McCuen, 296 Ark. 513, 758 S.W.2d 403 (1988). However, it is necessary to disclose all material issues. A material issue is one that would give a voter serious ground for reflection in deciding whether to vote for or against a proposal. Hoban v. Hall, 229 Ark. 416, 418, 316 S.W.2d 185, 186 (1958). The omission of a material issue from a ballot title can cause this court to strike the proposed issue. See Walton v. McDonald, 192 Ark. 1155, 97 S.W.2d 81 (1936). The reason is that the omission of a material issue can prevent disclosure of the scope and import of the proposed measure. While we must determine whether an omission amounts to a material omission, we do not do so when the ballot title is misleading. We have said that a ballot title ought to be free from any misleading tendency and contain no partisan coloring. Shepard v. McDonald, 189 Ark. 29, 30, 70 S.W.2d 566, 566 (1934) (quoting Westbrook v. McDonald, 184 Ark. 740, 43 S.W.2d 356 (1931)). Every ballot title must be honest. Plugge v. McCuen, 310 Ark. 654, 657, 841 S.W.2d 139, 140 (1992). The ballot title must present the voter with a fair understanding of the issue presented. Ferstl v. McCuen, 296 Ark. 504, 509, 758 S.W.2d 398, 400 (1988). In summary, the ballot title must accurately and honestly disclose the text of the proposal so that the public might make an informed choice. We have also said that the Attorney General's approval of a ballot title raises a presumption that it is sufficient, and only in a clear case should his approval be held insufficient. Plugge, 310 Ark. at 657, 841 S.W.2d at 140 (citing see Fletcher v. Bryant, 243 Ark. 864, 422 S.W.2d 698 (1968)). However, the Initiative and Referendum Amendment makes no mention of the review of a ballot title by the Attorney General, and it does not speak of a presumption. Also, in Fletcher the court merely stated that since the general assembly had enacted enabling legislation providing for review by the Attorney General, see Ark.Code Ann. § 7-9-107 (1987), there is a clear implication that the general assembly intended that presumptions as to sufficiency of a ballot title approved by the Attorney General favor the sponsors of a referendum petition inasmuch as the act specifically provides for relief to them, but not opponents, by petition to this court. Fletcher, 243 Ark. at 869, 422 S.W.2d at 701-02; but see Gaines, 296 Ark. at 519, 758 S.W.2d at 406. The issue then is whether this court should afford the Attorney General a province of authority that is not contained in the constitution. It should not. All power inheres in the people, but the people may not exercise all power. The will of the majority must prevail, but only if it is within the balances and limitations of the Constitution. The majority is a true sovereign, but only when held in check by those balances and limitations. It is a dualism that is institutionalized in our constitutional structure, for as the American Constitution was the first in history to incorporate the principle that men make government and that all government derives its authority from consent, it was also the first to place effective limits on government. See, Henry Steele Commager, Commager On Tocqueville 21-22 (1993). This paradox inherent in our democracy is carried an additional step in our system of federalism. The people of a state are to be governed by the will of the majority, but that will is held in check by balances and limitations of both the United States and the state constitutions. While article 2, section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution provides that [a]ll political power is inherent in the people and government [and] is instituted for their protection, security and benefit; and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same in such manner as they may think proper, the provision is limited by both constitutions. Under our system of federalism the Supreme Court of the United States gives the ultimate construction of the Constitution of the United States, and the state supreme courts give the ultimate construction of state constitutions on matters of state law. At times the courts must take anti-majority positions to uphold the constitution at issue. This is the foundation of the just rule by the majority. In ballot title cases that profound responsibility cannot be shifted by the general assembly, and it cannot be passed to the Attorney General. It is basic that the responsibility is wholly in the judiciary. The only question then is one of law, and it is does the ballot title fall within or without the standards by the constitution?