Students signed petitions and registered to vote at the Ballot Initiative Fair on the Ronnie Williams Student Center lawn on April 3. 

Organized by Bears at the Ballot — the campus chapter of Vote Everywhere, a national program that works to get college students more involved in politics — the fair saw dozens of students signing petitions as they walked by. 

Lesley Graybeal, director of service-learning and campus champion of Bears at the Ballot, led the event and registered students to vote.

“Arkansas is one of 19 states that allows citizen-submitted initiatives to appear on the ballot,” Graybeal said. “This is the first time we’re offering this kind of event where we’ve invited the organizations that are collecting the signatures to get those initiatives on the ballot to come to campus.”

“We’re out here today to make sure that if folks want to get registered, they can,” Graybeal said. “Our goal is to help folks check their voter registration status, find out if they’re registered and where and help them understand what that means about where they’re able to participate in an election.”

Volunteers from different organizations set up tables with several petitions for students to sign. The Arkansas Period Poverty Project, a group that works to provide period products to people who can’t afford them, collected signatures for their ballot measure, which would give Arkansans the chance to vote to make feminine hygiene products and diapers for adults and children exempt from sales and use taxes.

“Period products are taxed as a luxury and we don’t feel like having a period is a luxury,” said Shannie Jackson, leader of Arkansas Period Poverty Project.

Jackson said the ballot initiative is “the first step in eventually making these products free.”

“We think that they’re a medical necessity and if somebody needs diapers, that’s not their fault.”

Jackson said she had collected “almost 50” petition signatures in about two hours.

Alexis Lyons, a junior art history major, collected signatures for Arkansans for Limited Government’s Arkansas abortion amendment.

“Basically, the verbiage of it [the initiative] is saying that abortion is health care and health care is private,” Lyons said. “Right now, there’s almost a complete ban on abortions and we’re trying to change that where anyone who can get pregnant should have access to abortions up to 18 weeks.”

Two volunteers for Arkansas Citizens for Transparency collected signatures for the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment and Act. The amendment would enshrine citizens’ right to a transparent government into the state constitution and the Act would strengthen the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. 

“Seeing as we all pay taxes we should know what our government is doing with our money,” said Lela Chism, an ACT volunteer who traveled from Saline County to get signatures. 

Volunteers for For AR Kids also collected signatures for their proposed ballot measure, The Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024, which if passed would hold private and charter schools that accept money from the government to the same accreditation standards as public schools.

“I feel like everybody should have a say in what goes on in our economy, especially at this time,” said Zaniyah Otey, a sophomore pre-dental major who attended the fair. “A lot of stuff is getting taken away; people are feeling less like people because the government is basically ruling everything.” 

Otey said signing the petitions “gives you a moment to feel like you have a voice.”

Students interested in joining Bears at the Ballot can reach out to the group through CubConnect.