Some delegates to the Arkansas Republican convention are circulating a list of great proposals for the party platform and rules, plus a proposed party resolution. A few weeks ago we received word about several hot topics that were being discussed for possible amendments to the party platform and we wrote an article about it. Since then, delegates have expanded on the list and have begun to share their proposals with others. We were asked to post their proposals which are linked in this article. (We copied their Word document to PDF. Note that all the proposals are in one document and you have to scroll down though blank spaces between each proposal.)
Before we discuss their proposals, we first want to say the platform committee did a good job updating a proposed 2022 platform. It is just that the committee’s revisions were narrowly focused and did not address big issues that have arisen recently. Second, the proposals discussed here were shared with us, but there are likely to be other proposals that we do not yet know about.
The proposals shared with us and included here are:
- Platform – Opposes the sexualization of children (both explicit material and gender choice instruction)
- Platform – Opposes Critical Race Theory and similar teachings.
- Platform – Supports a closed party primary
- Platform – Supports partisan judicial elections
- Platform – Opposes mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations as condition for employment
- Platform – Supports the protecting of women’s sports from genetic males
- Platform – Supports the updating of election law to protect against cybersecurity threats
- Resolution – To reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election
- Rule – To require a voter to be a republican to vote in the republican primary
- Rule – To require a candidate be a registered Republican to be on the Republican ticket.
SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSALS
OPPOSING THE SEXUALIZATION OF CHILDREN
The left wants to sexualize even young children with explicit sexual material in school and with gender identity materials. We think this proposal will be extremely popular and necessary to protect our children.
OPPOSING CRITICAL RACE THEORY
The Arkansas legislature banned state agencies from teaching Critical Race Theory but legislation to ban it in our schools failed because some Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the ban. Some legislators bowed to left wing educators in avoiding passing the ban but such a ban seems extremely popular among Republican voters.
The text of the proposed platform amendment on Critical Race Theory also says, “We oppose the teaching of Socialist, Communist, and Marxist ideology” which is a statement already included in the platform proposed by the platform committee and distributed by the Republican Party.
PROTECTION OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
The Arkansas legislature already passed a law to prohibit biological males from competing in women’s sports. The proposal takes a needed step in making it clear the party is not wishy-washy on the subject. The party supports the protection of women’s sports from the radical left’s redefining of women.
OPPOSING MANDATORY COVID-19 VACCINATIONS AS CONDITION FOR EMPLOYMENT
Opposition to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations is one of the most important proposals but it will also be the one most opposed by huge corporations that have already terminated many outstanding workers. Big corporations successfully fought meaningful protections in the legislature and the legislature was so frightened of these big donors that in one instance the legislation was careful not to even highlight corporate mandates and instead talked about government mandates. Some Republicans voted against worker protections in the name of government staying out of business despite many laws that otherwise protect workers and despite them being eager to give taxpayer money to big corporations as grants and tax credits.
ELECTION PROPOSALS
Several of the proposals have to do with elections.
Judicial. Apparently, nobody other than Democrats like judicial candidates to run on a nonpartisan basis so the candidate can hide whether the candidate is Republican or is a Democrat or Independent (Democrat lite). This proposal supports the ending of the terrible nonpartisan experiment.
Being a Republican/ Closed primary. One proposed amendment to the platform and two proposed rule changes would require Republican candidates to actually be Republicans and require voters in the Republican primary to actually be Republicans. This became a hot issue as the left openly encouraged Democrats to vote in the Republican primary to help elect weaker candidates. But there is much more to it than that. County Republican committee members have long complained about people showing up to file as a Republican despite not having voted in the Republican primary before, not having declared themselves to be a Republican and never being involved in their county’s Republican committee. Plus, if elected, such candidates rarely visit their local Republican committee except to put their name on the ballot again.
Cybersecurity for elections. There is a proposal that supports the updating of election law to protect against cybersecurity threats. This should be no surprise because Republican voters are concerned about the security or lack thereof in the election process, especially concerning registration and voting systems.
2020 Presidential election certification. The final item on elections is a resolution to reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election. Is this a hot topic after two years? Yes, the security of elections remains a huge issue for Republican voters who still (despite assurances from the left) are concerned about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Plus Arkansas voters overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump over Joe Biden giving Trump 62.4% of the vote.
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION JULY 23
The upcoming Arkansas Republican Convention on July 23 has the making of a great meeting with the possibility of great progress in aligning the Republican Party with the concerns of Republican voters.
Again, here are the proposed amendments and resolution delegates have put together and listed in this article. Also check out the unofficial markup we prepared of the changes already proposed by the platform committee.
