I’ve discussed here several times two transparency proposals that might be on November’s ballot: the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment and the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act. These two separate but related citizen-initiated proposals—a constitutional amendment and a complementary statute—if enacted will:

1. Ensure the people approve future changes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA);

2. Provide an overdue definition of “public meetings”;

3. Safeguard citizens’ right to recoup their attorneys’ fees in successful FOIA cases against government entities that have failed to comply with their transparency obligations regarding open meetings and public records;

4. Create a direct penalty for government officials knowingly violating the FOIA;

5. Continue to protect public officials and their children while making former security records available for public inspection; and

6. Create a commission of unpaid commissioners to offer a free alternative-resolution method for citizens to address disclosure disputes, rather than having to hire an attorney and go to the court.

That the FOIA is invaluable cannot be gainsaid. I use the FOIA routinely to write this column and inform you of otherwise hidden wrongdoings in this state. So do many other journalists at this paper and other media sources in Arkansas. And, of course, citizens make important FOIA requests all the time.

Pay careful attention to the clause “might be on November’s ballot” in the first paragraph above. While you no doubt agree that the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment and the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act will cement the continued availability of the critical transparency tools required to ensure regnat populus— and, as such, you will vote for these proposals—you might not realize that in order to get these initiatives on the November ballot in the first place, we must submit by the end of June more than 90,000 signatures from registered voters to the secretary of state for the amendment and more than 70,000 signatures for the proposed statute. That deadline is quickly approaching.

So you need to do your part and sign both petitions right now. Here’s how:

1. Visit the “AR Citizens 4 Transparency” website and click on the “Petition Hub” tab to see the newspapers throughout the state that have petitions sitting in their offices waiting for your signature: https://arcitizens4transparency.org/petition-hubs/

2. Visit the “AR Citizens 4 Transparency” website and click on the “Campaign Events” tab to view signing opportunities at happenings across the state: https://arcitizens4transparency.org/calendar/

This calendar is updated daily.

3. Join the “AR Citizens for Transparency” Facebook page for more information.

4. Email the Arkansas Press Association at ARtransparency@arkansaspress.org if you don’t see a petition hub or signing event near you, and one of their transparency warriors will get in touch to ensure that you get to sign both petitions. (And feel free to contact me on Facebook or Twitter as well.)

But wait, there’s more.

If you’ve already signed the petitions, thank you! But you’re not done. Have you volunteered to collect signatures from 10 friends? If not, email the Arkansas Press Association at ARtransparency@arkansaspress.org today, and they’ll walk you through the process of gathering signatures from 10 of your friends and submitting that petition to the Press Association for transmittal to the secretary of state. Then you too can be a true transparency warrior!

Remember, transparency is a non-partisan—perhaps a pan-partisan—issue. The wide swath of Arkansans supporting the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment and the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act traverses those with purple hair (younger folks on the left) and blue hair (grandmothers on the right).

So if you see someone outside your typical cohort collecting signatures for the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment and the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act, don’t worry, grandstand or complain. Just say “thank you,” and consider that those other folks agree with you on this one fundamental issue—transparency—even though you’d argue with them over just about everything else.

Be thankful that in our highly divided society that we have at least this one common belief: Government transparency is the right of every Arkansan, regardless of his or her political affiliation. And give those other folks a wink as you go to your appropriately coiffed signature gatherer. Or, just maybe, sign the petition held by the otherwise wrong-headed signature gatherer, and wish him or her a blessed day.

We must preserve the people’s law signed 57 years ago by Republican Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, because the public’s right to government disclosure is non-negotiable, securing power where it rightfully belongs—in the hands of an informed and empowered citizenry of all political persuasions.

Please do your part and help ensure that we protect this right for ourselves and future generations here in Arkansas by signing both petitions this week.

This is your right to know.

Robert Steinbuch, the Arkansas Bar Professor at the Bowen Law School, is a Fulbright Scholar and author of the treatise “The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.” His views do not necessarily reflect those of his employer.