Opinion ID: 1662285
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: purpose of initiative process

Text: Petitioner contends that, as used by the drafters of the proposed amendment, the initiative power reserved by the people in Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution of 1874 will be manipulated to promote the financial gain of a few. Petitioner argues that the proposed amendment will thereby defeat the purpose of the initiative process, which is, Petitioner contends, to permit the people to exercise some control over the policies of this state. Conversely, the responsive argument is that the initiative process is undermined when a few persons act to prevent the voters from receiving the opportunity to exercise their votes. Initially, we perceive at least three purposes of the proposed amendment: (1) to establish a state-owned lottery; (2) to establish charitable bingo and raffles; and (3) to establish casino gambling at three locations in Hot Springs. Thus, it is questionable whether the sole benefit of this proposal would be the financial gain of a few. There can be no doubt that the power reserved to the people in the Initiative and Referendum Amendment, Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution of 1874, is a cornerstone of our state's democratic government. When considering the Initiative and Referendum Amendment, this court has said, the voters of this state essentially have, within constitutional limits, a right to change any law or any provision of our Constitution they deem appropriate through Amendment 7 to the Constitution. Dust, 277 Ark. at 4, 638 S.W.2d at 665. That is indeed the purpose of the initiative process. It follows that this court's sole function in such a process is to ensure that the ballot title represents the proposed amendment in an honest, impartial, and intelligible manner. Bradley v. Hall, 220 Ark. 925, 251 S.W.2d 470 (1952). It is not our function to express our view on, or to determine the merits of, a proposed measurethat power is expressly reserved to the people. The purpose of the initiative process is not undermined by the presentation to the voters of an issue that directly benefits a relative few of the people so long as the benefits to the few were not concealed from the voters. Once the initiated proposal is put to a vote, the people then have their saythey may either accept or reject the proposal with a majority vote. The initiative process is not undermined when the people vote on an issue that was presented to them in a fair and intelligible manner. As evidence that the ballot title manipulates the initiative process, Petitioner contends that it is designed so that easily-understood concepts appear at the beginning, with the more complex concepts appearing near the end. Counsel for Intervenor Douglass explained during oral argument that, although the proposal was not drafted in any particular order, there was a decision to place the lottery first due to the current prohibition of lotteries in our constitution, art. 19, § 14, Ark. Const. of 1874. We find nothing misleading about this decision given our state's historical constitutional prohibition of lotteries since statehood. See Christian Civic Action Comm., 318 Ark. at 254, 884 S.W.2d at 612 (Dudley, J., dissenting). Finally, we note that this argument is nothing more than a repeat of Petitioner's Point II, which we have already rejected.