Page:Leigh v. Hall.pdf/2

A.] #S.—Ballot title informed voters that a minimum wage and overtime law would be graduated over a period of three years from 80¢ up to $1.00 per hour minimum thereafter and overtime for all hours in excess of 48 per week the first year down to 40 for the third year and thereafter; that there were certain exemptions from the Act which would be administered and enforced by the State Labor Department. Held: The Ballot Title was sufficient.
 * 1) S.—All petitions for an initiated measure will be counted as one petition even though filed on different dates.
 * 2) S.—Amendment Seven, providing for initiative and referendum measures, will be liberally construed to effectuate its purpose.
 * 3) S.—Petition for initiated measure filed in parts held filed on the date the last part was filed.

An original action; injunction denied.

Wright, Harrison, Lindsey & Upton, for plaintiff Leigh; Rose, Meek, House, Barron & Nash, for plaintiff Thomas.

Bruce Bennett, Attorney General, for defendant; McMath, Leatherman, Woods & Youngdahl, for intervenor.

J. S H, Associate Justice. These two actions (No. 2273 and No. 2274) are original actions under Amendment Seven (7) to the Constitution of the State of Arkansas to test the sufficiency of the popular name and ballot title of an initiated measure sponsored by Arkansas State AFL-CIO bearing the popular name "Arkansas Minimum Wage And Overtime Act" and questioning the following ballot title:

"An Act to prescribe for employees, with certain exceptions, a minimum wage of eighty cents per hour increasing after one year to ninety cents per hour and increasing after two years to one dollar per hour. Further to prescribe for employees, with certain exemptions and exceptions, overtime wages of at least one and one-half times their regular rate for all hours worked over