Opinion ID: 2428656
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Master's report and findings

Text: We granted expedited consideration of this matter and, pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 6-5(a) (1998) and Ark. R. Civ. P. 53, appointed the Honorable Jack Lessenberry as master to conduct proceedings and hearings relating to the signature challenge and to report his factual findings to this court. After hearing testimony for three days and reviewing evidence and exhibits offered by the parties, the master filed his report on September 28, 1998. Significantly, he found that 1,830 signatures counted by the Secretary of State should have been excluded, leaving a deficiency of 975 signatures after subtracting the margin of 855 signatures. Generally, the signatures were excluded due to (1) the absence, insufficiency, or falsity of the canvasser's affidavit; (2) a forgery; or (3) evidence that the petitioner was not a registered voter. In light of these findings, the petitioner submits that Amendment 4 lacks sufficient signatures to appear on the ballot. Pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. P. 53 (1998), we will accept the master's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. See also Porter v. McCuen, 310 Ark. 674, 839 S.W.2d 521 (1992). A finding of fact is clearly erroneous, even if there is evidence to support it, when, based on the entire evidence, the court is left with the definite and firm conviction that the master has made a mistake. Casteel v. McCuen, 310 Ark. 568, 569, 838 S.W.2d 364 (1992). In short, the petitioner asks this court to adopt the master's findings of fact and either to enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Amendment 4 on the ballot or to order that any votes cast for the proposed measure not be counted. Petitioner also suggests that the evidence presented to the master clearly indicates that the intervenors ignored and abused the simple requirements of Ark. Const. amend. 7. We agree. Generally, we adopt and affirm the master's findings of fact. However, we do note, as indicated below, minor discrepancies with individual findings that we hold to be clearly erroneous. Notably, these errors are harmless and insufficient to restore the measure to the ballot. First, we consider 450 signatures excluded by the master and associated with Ms. Cyndi Jarvis. Ms. Jarvis became involved in the petition drive in the fall of 1997 and continued to collect signatures until July 1998, although she testified that she never read the instructions and statement to canvassers printed on each and every petition. Although an initiative and referendum measure must be liberally construed, and only substantial compliance with Ark. Const. amend. 7 is required, the affidavit of the persons circulating the petition must be attached to the petition. See Porter, 310 Ark. at 678, 839 S.W.2d 521. Each petition in the instant case contained an affidavit to be signed by the canvasser that states in part: I, _______, having first duly made oath, state that I personally circulated the above Petition and that each of the above persons signed said Petition in my presence. I further state that to the best of my knowledge and belief each person correctly stated his or her name, residence or town of residence correctly, and that each is a voter of the State of Arkansas. When an affidavit is demonstrated to be false, a petition loses its prima facie validity. See Porter, 310 Ark. at 677, 839 S.W.2d 521. However, the challenger must also prove that the falsity was conscious and more than inadvertence. Id. at 678, 839 S.W.2d 521 (citing Pafford v. Hall, 217 Ark. 734, 233 S.W.2d 72 (1950)). Ms. Jarvis testified that she failed to require petitioners to sign in her presence. Moreover, she left blank petitions at businesses and arranged to pick them up later or to receive them through the mail. If a petition was returned with signature blanks, she merely solicited additional signatures to complete the petition, even by soliciting signatures from other counties. Most disturbingly, Ms. Jarvis whited-out the names of canvassers on petitions she received and replaced the canvasser's names with her own in order to have the petitions notarized. The master also heard testimony from petition signers Lois Williams, Fred Blasscock, Kim Marsh, and Chas Stak, that, although Ms. Jarvis's name appeared on the petition as the canvasser, neither Jarvis nor any other person actually witnessed them signing the petition. Clearly, the master properly excluded those signatures where Jarvis falsely signed petitions as the canvasser. However, the master erred by twice excluding sixteen signatures collected by Ms. Jarvis on petition 2004 and introduced as exhibit 34. Although the sixteen signatures were properly excluded once, the master itemized the same exclusion at pages 5 and 11 of his report. Also, the master erred by not counting nine signatures of witnesses who testified that they did sign the Jarvis petition and twenty-one additional signatures of witnesses who, by stipulation of the parties, would have testified to signing the petition. Therefore, we agree with the intervenors' argument that these signatures were rehabilitated, and we hold that the master erred by not counting these thirty signatures. In light of Ms. Jarvis's conscious disregard of the petition instructions, demonstrated by her testimony that she failed to collect signatures personally, received petitions through the mail, and whited-out canvassers' signatures, replacing them with her own, we cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous in excluding 404 of the 450 disputed signatures. Second, the master excluded 241 signatures that he found to be forgeries. We have long held that the express purpose of Ark. Const. amend. 7 is that petition signatures must be genuine. Hargis v. Hall, 196 Ark. 878, 887, 120 S.W.2d 335 (1938). In furtherance of that purpose, Amendment 7 conspicuously contemplates that laws may be enacted prohibiting and penalizing perjury, forgery, and all other felonies or other fraudulent practices in the securing of signatures or filing of petitions. Id. Here, Ms. Linda Taylor, an undisputed expert witness, experienced in the field of identifying handwriting, signatures, and forgeries and trained with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Arkansas State Crime Lab, testified that, after reviewing the copies of the petitions filed with the Secretary of State, she found four to five hundred suspicious signatures. After comparing those signatures with available current, known signatures, she concluded, under the legal standard of a high degree of certainty, that 241 signatures were highly probable forgeries. In light of Ms. Taylor's testimony and the rationale underlying Amendment 7, we cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous by excluding these 241 signatures as forgeries. Third, pursuant to the parties' stipulation, the master excluded 221 signatures located on petitions that Mr. Fred Jarvis did not circulate but falsely signed as canvasser. In light of the requirements of Ark. Const. amend. 7 discussed above, we cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous in excluding these signatures. Fourth, the master considered Mr. Bill Turner's admission that he falsely signed his name as the canvasser on six petitions. In light of this testimony and Amendment 7's requirements, we cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous in excluding twenty-three signatures associated with these petitions. Given the 404 signatures properly excluded because of Ms. Cyndi Jarvis's conscious disregard of Amendment 7's requirements, the 241 signatures properly excluded as forgeries, the 221 signatures excluded because of Mr. Fred Jarvis's false affidavit, and the twenty-three signatures excluded because of Mr. Bill Turner's false affidavit, the master properly excluded a total of 889 signatures. As noted, the margin of sufficiency as determined by the Secretary of State was 855 signatures. Based on the foregoing, the measure lacks sufficient signatures to be certified for placement on the ballot. However, in the interest of completeness, we address the validity of the remaining, disputed signatures. Next, we consider sixty-six signatures that were excluded for lack of a notary signature. The intervenors contend that the master erred by excluding twenty of these signatures that had been stamped with Mr. Bill Pugh's facsimile signature. However, the intervenors offer no convincing argument or authority in support of their position. We do not consider assertions of error that are unsupported by convincing legal authority or argument, unless it is apparent without further research that the argument is well-taken. Grayson v. Bank of Little Rock, 334 Ark. 180, 971 S.W.2d 788 (1998) (citing Porter v. Harshfield, 329 Ark. 130, 139, 948 S.W.2d 83 (1997); J & J Bonding, Inc. v. State, 330 Ark. 599, 602, 955 S.W.2d 516 (1997)). In the absence of such argument and authority, we adopt the master's findings excluding these sixty-six signatures. We also adopt the master's findings excluding the following 792 signatures: 302 signatures with inconsistent signatures of canvassers; forty-five signatures where two canvassers were listed and only one signed or where no signature was found; eighty-seven signatures attributable to Mr. T.J. Glasgow because he testified that he was not present when the petition was signed and was not present when the petition was notarized; nineteen signatures attributed to Ms. Ruth E. Burnett because she testified that she signed as canvasser at her employer's direction although she did not collect the signatures; 198 signatures where the canvasser was absent, did not collect the signatures, or did not sign his affidavit before a notary; and 141 signatures where the canvasser failed to sign his affidavit before a notary. The master heard testimony that petitions were notarized outside the presence of the canvasser and even when the notary had no personal knowledge of canvassers' identities. We have held that the affidavit requires concurrent action on the part of the canvasser and the notary. See Porter, 310 Ark. at 678, 839 S.W.2d 521. In light of the foregoing, we cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous in excluding these signatures for absent or deficient affidavits. The intervenors also argue that the master erred by not counting 682 signatures excluded by the Secretary of State because of irregularities in the petition. The master found that the Secretary of State's prima facie review of each page revealed petitions without complete text, petitions with two canvassers indicated but only one signature, the complete absence of a notary, or a failure of the notary to sign. We have held that the full text of a measure must be on the petition in order for the signer to have the opportunity to read it and to inform himself prior to signing the measure. See Leigh v. Hall, 232 Ark. 558, 566, 339 S.W.2d 104 (1960). We cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous by not counting these signatures. Additionally, the intervenors contest the exclusion of 1,127 signatures found on petitions that were never tendered to the Secretary of State. Mr. John Hoyle, the intervenor and a leader in the petition drive, testified that he and others delivered petitions to the Secretary of State on Thursday, July 2, 1998. Upon his return home, he received several additional petitions in that day's mail and via a Federal Express delivery. Notably, the master's report indicates that these 1,127 signatures were not timely tendered to the Secretary of State but, in fact, were disclosed by the intervenors only after the inception of this case. Accordingly, we decline to say that the master was clearly erroneous by not counting these signatures. Finally, the intervenors contend that the Secretary of State improperly excluded 765 signatures of nonregistered voters. Both the respondent and the petitioner justify the exclusion on the basis that these petitioners were not registered voters at the time the petition was notarized. We agree that these signatures were properly excluded, but we note that the petition signer must have been a registered voter at the time he signed the petition. Pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 7-9-101(8) (Supp.1997), a legal voter is a person who is registered at the time of signing the petition pursuant to Ark. Const. amend. 51, which provides that voter registration is not final until the permanent registrar receives and acknowledges acceptance of a voter-registration application. Accordingly, the Secretary of State properly excluded the signatures of 765 individuals who were not registered by the date of notarization, a date even later than the signing of the petition. We cannot say that the master was clearly erroneous in not counting these signatures. We have long observed that we do not enjoy being in the last minute of review. See Scott v. Priest, 326 Ark. 328, 334, 932 S.W.2d 746 (1996) (citing Page v. McCuen, 318 Ark. 342, 884 S.W.2d 951 (1994)). We also acknowledge that the people of Arkansas deserve an initiative and referendum procedure that allows them the confidence that measures, after having been adequately reviewed, will not be removed from the ballot. Id. at 334-35, 932 S.W.2d 746. Recognizing that the sponsors of proposals should also be assured [that] their ballot titles and proposed measures meet required guidelines and rules before they spend their time, energy and monies in getting their proposal before the voters, id. at 334, 932 S.W.2d 746, we again exercise our jurisdiction and strongly advise sponsors of initiated constitutional amendments that the onus of complying with the simple and straightforward procedural requirements of Ark. Const. amend. 7 lies solely with the sponsor of the proposed constitutional amendment, regardless of the substantive nature of the measure. Where, as here, the sponsor fails to comply with and ignores and abuses these simple procedural requirements, established by our Constitution to protect all the residents and taxpayers of Arkansas, neither the Secretary of State nor this court can cure such a deficiency resulting solely from the sponsor's conscious disregard of the Constitution's requirements. Accordingly, we hold that proposed Amendment 4 lacks sufficient signatures to satisfy the requirements of Ark. Const. amend. 7, and we grant the instant petition to enjoin its placement on the November 3, 1998, ballot. Alternatively, we hold that any votes cast on proposed Amendment 4 not be counted or certified. We also shorten the time for issuance of mandate and direct that any petition for rehearing must be filed on or before October 20, 1998. GLAZE and CORBIN, JJ., concur.