Lange v. Martin

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas reviewed an original action challenging the legal sufficiency of the ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing three casinos in Arkansas. The court held that the ballot title was misleading because it described sports wagering that conflicted with the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act without informing voters of that conflict; it granted the petition, denied the motion to dismiss, and did not reach the remaining constitutional challenges.

Holdings

1. A ballot title is legally insufficient when it describes an amendment as permitting sports gambling but omits the essential fact that federal law prohibits Arkansas from authorizing sports gambling, because the omission prevents voters from receiving an honest, impartial, and intelligible understanding of the measure.
2. The court did not reach the remaining ballot-title challenges or the constitutional challenge because the ballot title was already legally insufficient.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ballot title for Issue No. 5 was legally sufficient under Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution.
2. Whether the ballot title was materially misleading because it described sports gambling and Nevada-authorized wagering without informing voters that federal law prohibited sports gambling in Arkansas.

Disposition

other