Burge v. Priest

Kim BURGE, Terry Wallace, and Eric Jackson,
Individually and On Behalf of the Committee
Against the Loss of Arkansas Jobs, and All
Others Similarly Situated v. Sharon PRIEST,
Secretary of State

96-1017                                            ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
              Opinion delivered September 23, 1996


Elections -- motion for expedited-scheduling order and original-
     action petition dismissed as moot. -- Where the supreme court,
     by per curiam order in a related case, Southland Racing Corp.
     v. Priest, 326 Ark. 1, ___ S.W.2d ___ (1996), directed the
     Secretary of State to remove Proposed Amendment 6 from the
     November 6, 1996, general election ballot, entry of that order
     rendered moot petitioners' motion for expedited-scheduling
     order and original-action petition, which the supreme court
     dismissed.


     Motion for Expedited Scheduling Order; Motion and Original
Action Petition dismissed as moot.
     Friday, Eldredge & Clark, by: Elizabeth Robben Murray, Walter
M. Ebel III, and Jonann Coniglio Roosevelt, for petitioners.
     Ann Purvis, for respondent. 

     Per Curiam.
     On Auguest 2, 1996, respondent Sharon Priest, Secretary of
State for the State of Arkansas, certified Proposed Amendment 6
bearing the popular name "Amendment to Prohibit Gambling on
Contests or Games of Chance and Skill and Specifically Prohibiting
Gambling on Horse Racing and Dog Racing" for the ballot for the
general election on November 5, 1996.  In doing do, the Secretary
of State declared that Proposed Amendment 6 satisfied
constitutional requirements.
     On August 30, 1996, petitioners Kim Burge, Terry Wallace, and
Eric Jackson, individually and on behalf of the Committee Against
the Loss of Arkansas Jobs, and all others similarly situated (the
"Committee") filed an original action petition in this court under
Amendment 7 of the Arkansas Constitution, challenging the validity
of the signatures appearing on the initiative petition and the
adequacy of the ballot title of the proposed amendment.  
     On the same date, August 30, 1996, the Committee filed a
motion for an expedited scheduling order, for appointment of a
special master, and for leave of the court to take depositions.
     On September 6, 1996, the Secretary of State filed a response
to the motion for expedited scheduling order in which she stated
that the issue was moot, because her September 6, 1996 answer to
the original action petition consented to judgment removing 
Proposed Amendment 6 from the November 5, 1996 ballot.
     On September 9, 1996, a "Stipulation of Parties" was filed by
the Secretary of State, the Committee, and the Attorney General, in
which it was agreed that 1) Proposed Amendment 6 lacked sufficient
signatures  to qualify for the ballot, 2) the proponent of the
amendment, the Christian Civic Action Committee, had informed the
Secretary of State that it could not meet its burden of
establishing the authenticity of the signatures, and 3)  further
litigation of this cause would result in Proposed Amendment 6 being
struck from the ballot.
     By per curiam order in a related case, Southland Racing
Corporation and Darby Henry v. Sharon Priest, No. 96-1016, dated
September 18, 1996, this court has directed the Secretary of State
to remove Proposed Amendment 6 from the November 6, 1996 general
election ballot.   Entry of this per curiam order on September 18,
1996, has rendered the original action petition and motion filed by
the petitioners herein moot.
     Motion and original action petition dismissed as moot.