Adoption petition drive expects shortfall
Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008
The head of the group seeking to ban certain types of adoption and foster parenting in Arkansas said Tuesday that he expects to be initially short of the necessary number of valid signatures to get the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.
But Jerry Cox of Little Rock, president of the Family Council Action Committee, said in an email to supporters that he hopes to collect more signatures this month. Cox said later in an interview that he’s optimistic about gathering enough. “But we’re going to have to continue working,” he said. The committee is promoting a proposed initiated act to ban unmarried cohabiting couples from adopting or fostering children. To get on the ballot, the secretary of state’s office must certify that 61, 974 of the signatures on a petition supporting the proposal’s certification for the ballot are from registered Arkansas voters.
The deadline is Monday at 5 p. m., but another 30 days is allowed for signature collecting if the number of signatures is sufficient but the number of valid signatures turns out to be insufficient, secretary of state spokesman Natasha Naragon said.
Cox said the group has collected about 62, 000, but he expects 10, 000 to 15, 000 of those signatures to be invalid. He said he’s basing that on his experience in 2004 when he was trying to get a measure on the ballot to ban gay marriage. He said about 25 percent of those signatures were disqualified.
“This means our petition drive is going into overtime,” Cox said. “Response from churches has improved considerably. This petition drive has momentum, and I believe, by God’s grace and with lots of hard work, we’re going to put this measure on the ballot and see it passed in November.” Cox has previously said it was difficult to collect signatures at the May 20 primary because of a lack of voter turnout for that election, which had no presidential candidate and no statewide officer with an opponent on the ballot.
A group called Arkansas Families First has formed to oppose the ballot measure. It contends that there are many children in the state in need of adoption or foster care and that the state shouldn’t limit the pool of possible parents.
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