FAIRLY POOR: Committes signature effort had a 70 percent failure rate.

  • FAIRLY POOR: Committe’s signature effort had a 70 percent failure rate.

The secretary of state said today that petitions to put a gas severance tax increase on the ballot have fallen short of the number required. Here’s the letter.

Advertisement

Supporters will have 30 days from today to gather more signatures.

Needing 62,507 signatures, the petitioners for the Committee for a Fair Severance Tax turned in 69,774. But the office found that only 21,347, or about 30.5 percent, were verified as signatures of registered voters. That’s a huge failure rate and a big gap to close, which Sheffield Nelson, leader of the effort, readily acknowledged.

Advertisement

“I was very surprised and totally disappointed. I never thought in terms of those percentages. I thought we’d at least have 60 percent.”

He said the committee would decide by Monday whether to continue its drive. “Realistically, it’s a difficult gap.” He said he thought the goal was still possible with commitments from other partners, such as the Arkansas Municipal League, but he said he’d have to meet with them first. “I’ve never quit anything in my life,” Nelson said. “I don’t see myself starting that process today.”

Advertisement

The letter from Secretary of State Mark Martin indicated whole pages of signatures were disallowed for “concerns about the facial validity of the signatures.” In short, at a glance they appeared to be bogus. This could be a ground for contest by backers of the petitions, but if all obviously looked to be signed by the same hand it would be vain effort.

Nelson seemed to accept that bogus signatures were filed and he said that had “ramifications.” If canvassers turned in full pages they’d signed themselves, despite sworn statements they’d witnessed signatures by others, he said it was “a concerted effort to defraud. … Somebody lied. ….If they were writing signatures in, they broke the law.”

Advertisement

He said he wanted to review “thousands” of additional signatures gathered since the July 6 deadline to assure the practice hadn’t been repeated.

The campaign, anticipating some signatures would be disqualified, had continued to have canvassers in the field. The gas industry-financed campaign to oppose the tax has been busy, too. Nelson says gas industry-hired workers have been attempting to block people from reaching canvassers and he also says he’s received reports of paid canvassers who’ve had their petition sheets bought for a higher price by anti-tax operators.

Advertisement

The committee formed to beat the severance tax, headed by Randy Zook of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and financed almost exclusively by major gas producers, reported this week that it had already spent $1.6 million. It has raised almost $1.8 million — including $700,000 from Southwestern Energy, $450,000 from XTO Energy and $600,000 from Stephens Production.

A statement from the group follows:

Advertisement

Arkansas Times: Your voice in the fight

Are you tired of watered-down news and biased reporting? The Arkansas Times has been fighting for truth and justice for 50 years. As an alternative newspaper in Little Rock, we are tough, determined, and unafraid to take on powerful forces. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, we are making a difference. But we can't do it without you. Join the 3,400 paid subscribers who support our great journalism and help us hire more writers. Sign up for a subscription today or make a donation of as little as $1 and help keep the Arkansas Times feisty for years to come.

Previous article Oxford American, Chapter Umpteen Next article Memphis chapter of Recording Academy to screen Big Star doc