Arkansas
Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston responds to complaint about abortion on ballot rejection: ‘My position remains unchanged’
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas secretary of state continues to maintain his rejection of the signatures to place an abortion amendment on the November 2024 ballot was correct.
Secretary of State John Thurston responded to a Thursday letter from Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG) on Monday, stating “My position remains unchanged.”
At issue are the paperwork accompanying the ballot petition signatures and the use of paid canvassers by AFLG. In this letter Monday, Thurston stated the group had failed to turn in all of the required paperwork accompanying the signatures and had not turned in the paperwork at the same time it turned in the signatures, two points of failure to comply with the law.
Failure on these two points led to AFLG’s submission being rejected, Thurston’s letter stated.
AFLG turned in 101,525 signatures at the secretary of state’s office on the July 5 deadline to place access to abortion before voters on the November ballot. By state law, to place an amendment on the ballot requires 90,704 signatures of voters supporting it, certified by the secretary.
On July 10, Thurston sent a letter to the group stating that its signatures were rejected in accordance with state law. The letter stated that AFLG has used some paid canvassers, but it did not include paperwork naming the canvassers and affirming they had followed the law for gathering signatures.
Because paid canvassers had gathered 14,143 signatures, those were now invalid, the letter stated, meaning AFLG had turned in 87,832 signatures, a number below the required threshold.
AFLG followed up with a letter stating it had submitted the required paperwork in June and stating the Secretary of State is required to count all the signatures while the paperwork is being disputed. Thurston refuted this in the Monday letter, stating that the paperwork must be turned in at the same time as the signatures.
AFLG was contacted for a response to Thurston’s letter, but one has not been received prior to this story being published. If a response is made this story will be updated.
Arkansas
OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Reasons to be skeptical on Arkansas’ PBS claims | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
John Brummett
John Brummett’s career in news began when he was in high school, as a part-time reporter for the Arkansas Democrat. He moved to the Arkansas Gazette in 1977.
He wrote a political column for the Gazette from 1986 to 1990. He was an editor for the Arkansas Times from 1990 to 1992.
In 1994, his book, “High Wire: From the Back Roads to the Beltway, the Education of Bill Clinton,” was published by Hyperion of New York City. He became a columnist with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1994. In 2000, he signed a deal with Donrey Media Group, now known as Stephens Media, and wrote for them for 11 years.
He rejoined Democrat-Gazette as a columnist on Oct. 24, 2011.
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas basketball sophomore Karter Knox is probable to play against South Carolina, according to the SEC Availability Report released on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
John Calipari said Knox suffered a hip pointer injury during the No. 17 Razorbacks (12-4, 2-1 SEC) 95-73 loss to Auburn over the weekend. Arkansas returns to action against the Gamecocks on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Calipari said he didn’t know the exact moment when Knox was hurt against Auburn, but it occurred during the first period as Knox did not play after halftime. He finished the night with zero points in seven minutes.
During his weekly radio show on Monday, Jan. 12, Calipari confirmed Knox had not practiced since the loss to Auburn.
This is not the first time Knox has dealt with an injury this season. He missed the opening game of the year with a toe sprain. The second-year guard is averaging 8.6 points and five rebounds while shooting a team-best 43.5% from 3-point range.
If Knox can play, he would get the chance to go against his older brother for the first time in their respective college careers. Kobe Knox is a redshirt senior at South Carolina after transferring from South Florida before the season.
If something changes before tipoff and Karter is sidelined, one of Billy Richmond III or Meleek Thomas will start against the Gamecocks.
Richmond would be a seamless replacement on the defensive end, although he is not as good of an outside shooter. Richmond is averaging 8.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Thomas would be the aggressive pick on offense. The five-star freshman is Arkansas’ second-leading scorer with 15.4 points per game.
The biggest question is whether Calipari would go deeper into his bench to replace Knox in Arkansas’ eight-man rotation. Isaiah Sealy has been the Hogs’ ninth man this season, but he’s only averaging 8.9 minutes and has appeared in four games since the beginning of December.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Arkansas
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