FOR Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 4 | |
AGAINST Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 4 | |
[2.] No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.
[3.] No person shall be a senator who shall not have *264 attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the state for which he shall be chosen.
The truth is that there is no method of securing to the rich the preference apprehended but by prescribing qualifications *265 of property either for those who may elect or be elected. But this forms no part of the power to be conferred upon the national government. Its authority would be expressly restricted to the regulation of the times, the places, the manner of elections. The qualifications of the persons who may choose or be chosen, as has been remarked upon other occasions, are defined and fixed in the Constitution, and are unalterable by the legislature. The Federalist Papers 371 (Mentor ed. 1961). Emphasis in last sentence added.)
Section 3, of the term limit amendment which is the constitutionally invalid provision is linked to state term limits on (sic) only in theme, a theme that the voters overwhelmingly approved by initiative. To hold that the provisions are “inextricably linked” per the analysis in Hasha1 this Court would have to conclude that the voters dislike for the federal delegation was overwhelming to the extent that they forced term limits upon state officials, an analysis that this Court cannot make.
A voter who wished to vote for the issuance of the $10,000,000 in bonds for the school district knew that he or she was required to also vote in favor of the tax because, without the tax, the bonds could not be issued. It is abundantly clear that the proposal for the issuance of the bonds **359 for the construction of the school facilities was popular with the voters.
The people of Arkansas find and declare that elected officials who remain in office too long become preoccupied with reelection and ignore their duties as representatives of the people. Entrenched incumbency has reduced voter participation and has led to an electoral system that is less free, less competitive, and less representative than the system established by the Founding Fathers. Therefore, the people of Arkansas, exercising their reserved powers, herein limit the terms of elected officials.
A severability clause is frequently an aid to the Courts in the construction of a statute, but, in the oft-quoted words *277 of Justice Brandeis, it is not “an inexorable command.” Dorchy v. Kansas, 264 U.S. 286, 68 L.Ed. 686, 44 S.Ct. 323. While such a clause deserves reasonable consideration it should not be paid undue homage. Sutherland, Statutory Construction (3d Ed.) § 2408. For example, if an act should levy a new tax and create a new agency for its collection, no one could doubt that the invalidation of the tax would also do away with the collection agency, despite the presence of a severability clause. In Nixon v. Allen, 150 Ark. 244, 234 S.W. 45, we declared an entire act to be invalid, in the face of such a clause, because we concluded that if the legislature had known in advance that part of the act was unconstitutional it would not have enacted the rest. That is really the test.
An Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Arkansas limiting the number of terms that may be served by the elected officials of the Executive Department of this *279 state to two (2) four year terms, this department to consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer of State, Auditor of State, Attorney General, Commissioner of State Lands; limiting the number of terms that may be served by members of the Arkansas Senate to two (2) four-year terms, these members to be chosen every four years; providing that any person having been elected to three (3) or more terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas shall not be eligible to appear on the ballot for election to the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas; providing that any person having been elected to two (2) or more terms as a member for the United States Senate from Arkansas shall not be eligible to appear on the ballot for election to the United States Senate from Arkansas; providing for an effective date of January 1, 1993; and making the provisions applicable to all persons thereafter seeking election to the specified offices.
Undoubtedly, a strong case can be made concerning the Term Limitation Amendment's invalidity both under Arkansas's and the United States' Constitutions, and voters should be aware that their votes for or against this measure may ultimately have value only as an expression of public sentiment on the subject. In short, a future judicial proceeding will be required to decide the Amendment's validity if it is adopted by the people. If that occurs, the constitutional arguments posited here will then be placed squarely before us and can be decided after due and proper consideration.
The cause of states' rights, like that of the aged and the blind, is deservedly a popular one and undeniably appeals to the great body of the electorate. But are there provisions in the amendment which, if made known, would give the voter serious ground for reflection?
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