Page:Leigh v. Hall.pdf/3

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560
LEIGH AND THOMAS v. HALL,
SECRETARY OF STATE
[232

forty-eight in each workweek, for all hours worked over forty-four in each workweek after one year; and for all hours worked over forty in each workweek after two years; and to provide for the administration of minimum and overtime wage provisions by the Arkansas Department of Labor; to provide for the enforcement of such provisions; and for other purposes."

Specifically, the plaintiffs, Leigh and Thomas, present for our consideration (1) the sufficiency of the popular name, (2) the sufficiency of the ballot title and (3) the sufficiency of the publication of the measure.

(1)

We have only a small body of case law dealing with the sufficiency of the popular name title of initiated measures. In Pafford v. Hall, 217 Ark. 734, 233 S.W.2d 272, the term "A Statewide Prohibition Act" was attacked. The opponents argued that since the measure actually allowed possession of a single quart of intoxicating liquor, the name was misleading. But this court upheld the title concluding: "It seems too clear for argument that the popular name need not have the detailed information as is required for the formal ballot title, else there would be no difference between the two . . ."

We did, however, point out in Moore v. Hall, 229 Ark. 411, 316 S.W.2d 207, that catch phrases and slogans which tend to mislead and to color the merit of a proposal would be rejected. In Bradley v. Hall, 220 Ark. 925, 251 S.W.2d 470, the popular name "Modern Consumer Credit Amendment" which was considered along with the ballot title was rejected. We there said: ". . . no convincing explanation is offered for the use of the word 'modern'. It is certainly not descriptive of the amendment, unless we are to say that every amendment is modern merely because it is new. Rather, the word is used as a form of salesmanship, carrying the connotation that the original constitution is old-fogyish and outmoded, while the proposed amendment is modern and therefore