Another Northeast Arkansas group fighting to put an alcohol measure on the November ballot is also suing the county’s clerk.
The group Keep Our Dollars in Independence County is now suing County Clerk Tracy Mitchell for rejecting signatures on a ballot measure to allow alcohol sales in the county.
According to the Batesville Daily Guard, Mitchell’s office rejected 424 signatures on the petition, causing the group to be short 377 of the nearly 4,000 valid signatures needed on the ballot. A similar group in Randolph County has already filed a lawsuit against their county’s clerk for rejecting over 169 pages of signatures, causing them to be 361 signatures short for their petition.
Both Mitchell and Randolph County Clerk Rhonda Blevins have told media outlets they were following Arkansas law Act 1413 of 2013 in validating the petitions. Linda Bowlin, the committee chair fighting to allow alcohol sales in Randolph County, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette the law was invalidated.
A hearing in Independence County has been set for Tuesday at 9am. A hearing in Randolph County has been set later this month.
