Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The state attorney general Thursday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would require union elections be conducted by secret ballot.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said the measure had too many ambiguities.

The proposal was filed by a group calling itself “Save our Secret Ballot in Arkansas,” which is chaired by Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, who is considering a potential challenge to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., next year.

National Republicans have targeted Lincoln’s seat in the 2010 elections, and particularly have pressed her past support for the proposed Employee Free Choice Act pending in Congress. Earlier this year, Lincoln announced she opposed the so-called “card check” legislation that would allow employees to form a union by signing cards rather than holding a secret ballot.

The measure proposed by Baker’s group to counter the union-supported card check law would require secret ballot elections in public office elections and for “authorizations for employee representation.”

In Thursday’s opinion, McDaniel said the proposed popular name and ballot title are unclear on what effect, if any, the measure’s adoption would have on existing state law.

“All elections by the people shall be by ballot or by voting machines which insure the secrecy of individual votes,” the opinion said. “The fundamental right of individuals to vote by secret ballot is thus already enshrined in the constitution, raising the question of how, if at all … your proposed measure would change existing law.”

The attorney general also listed a variety of other questions that need to be clarified in the proposal.