Opinion ID: 2455506
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Declaratory or direct relief

Text: If the statute requiring that a challenge to the certification of the popular name and ballot title be made within 45 days of publication governs, we must grant the motion to dismiss. CALL contends the statute is unconstitutional and thus should not govern. Mr. McCuen contends we have no authority to consider the constitutionality of the statute because we are limited by Amendment 7 to the issue of the sufficiency of the petition to have the proposed amendment on the ballot. It is argued that we are being asked to give a declaratory judgment on the question of the constitutionality of the statute and that we have no jurisdiction to do so. We reject the argument that CALL is seeking declaratory judgment on the constitutionality of the statute. This is an original action to determine the sufficiency of a petition to have a matter placed on the ballot. The statute has been asserted as a bar to the action, and CALL has responded that the statute is not a bar as it is unconstitutional. The issue of the validity of the statute is thus before us in this original action which does not seek declaratory relief but rather seeks a direct remedy. See Boyett v. Boyett, 269 Ark. 36, 598 S.W.2d 86 (1980), in which we noted that declaratory relief may not be sought where the issue is pending in other litigation, and UHS of Arkansas, Inc. v. Charter Hospital of Little Rock, Inc., 297 Ark. 8, 759 S.W.2d 204 (1988), where we contrasted seeking declaratory relief with ordinary litigation. See also Ferstl v. McCuen, 296 Ark. 504, 758 S.W.2d 398 (1988), in which, by mentioning that no constitutional challenge had been made to a statute facilitating the operation of Amendment 7 we implied that such a question could have been raised. By providing that an action challenging an early determination of the sufficiency of the popular name and ballot title of a proposed amendment shall be filed here within 45 days of publication and that such a challenge may not be filed unless it is done within that 45 day period, the statute has the effect of permitting and, as in this case requiring, that the challenge occur prior to a determination that there are sufficient signatures to have the initiated amendment placed on the ballot. The validity of the statute is directly in issue.