AG Dustin McDaniel Cost Secure Arkansas 31,658 Signatures

Debbie Pelley, Arkansas Watch: We were told by a national immigration office that most states do not get an immigration initiative passed unless they raise enough money to hire canvassers to get the signatures. Yet in only 39 working days our organization, Secure Arkansas, collected 56,122 signatures to deny certain benefits to illegal aliens with no paid staff, with no paid canvassers, and with practically no budget. That is 1439 petitions per work day. That should tell our politicians how the people feel about this issue. This has truly been a grassroots movement. (We were short of the minimum of 61, 974 by 5,852 signatures.)

Our Attorney General cost us 22 working days by delaying the approval of the ballot title twice. His first refusal to approve the ballot title was April 9, 08 (14 days after it was submitted), and his final approval came May 9, 08. Multiply 22 days times 1439 (the average collection of signatures per working day) and you have another 31,658 signatures or more. Signatures came in faster every week than the week before. It took us a month to reach our full speed.

Isn't it reasonable then to believe that Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's delays in approving the ballot cost Arkansans their first big chance to solve the illegal alien problem in Arkansas? The Attorney General has 10 business days to approve or deny an initiative, and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel waited every time until the last hours of the last day to respond. Does anyone think that was not on purpose?

As Dr. Bill Smith said on the ARRA News Service: "It is unfortunate, that the AG responsible for upholding the rule of law, should have been the person most responsible for the failure to secure enough signatures on a ballot initiative to help protect Arkansas citizens. Elections matter!"

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Tags: Arkansas, Attorney General, ballot initiatives, Dustin McDaniel, economic cost, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, Secure Arkansas To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!