Arkansas State Senator Kim Hammer (R – Benton), currently running for Secretary of State, proposed the creation of an unprecedented law enforcement unit designed to police citizens and the democratic process itself.
The proposal, filed as SB212 of 2025, would establish a new “Document Validity Division” inside the Secretary of State’s office, empowering unelected government agents titled “record validity investigators” to act as investigators, judges, and executioners of citizen-led petition efforts. Under this plan, state appointees would decide what is “true,” what is “misleading,” and which voices are allowed to be heard at the ballot box.
This force would not apply to initiatives pushed by the Legislature. Lawmakers would remain exempt—free to use ballot language without scrutiny—while ordinary citizens are subjected to aggressive investigation and punishment. For years, legislators have used confusing and misleading ballot titles to expand government power and raise taxes. Yet this proposal targets only the people.
The proposed unit would wield extraordinary authority. It could issue subpoenas, compel testimony, and demand access to all private correspondence, including emails, documents, books, and internal records—materials that government officials themselves keep shielded from public view under existing freedom-of-information exemptions.
Most alarming, this unit would have the unilateral power to declare a citizen initiative “false” or “fraudulent” and kill it outright—without a trial, without due process, and without an impartial judge. Longstanding legal protections would be stripped away and replaced with raw administrative power.
Although this specific proposal failed to pass, it was part of a broader wave of legislation that successfully crippled citizen petition rights. If Sen. Hammer is elevated to Secretary of State, there is every reason to believe this effort will return—stronger, broader, and more dangerous to democracy than before.
Early voting for the Secretary of State runoff election begins Tuesday, March 24, and ends March 30. Election Day for the runoff is Tuesday, March 31.
