Today’s episode of the Arkansas Civic Minute is brought to you by Civic Arkansas, a Winthrop Rockefeller Institute program.
A good chunk of Arkansas’ mail-in ballots are tossed out every year. The state led the nation for the highest amount of uncounted mail in ballots for at least two election cycles. 7% of the state's mail-ins went uncounted in 2022. For the last election, 2024, that number went up to 8.8%, over 2,000 voters. The state with the second-highest rejection rate is Delaware at 5.5%. So, Arkansas is unique in the amount of mail-in ballots it doesn't count.
That could be due to state law requiring absentee ballot signatures to match voter registrations, and for mail-in ballots to have photographic proof of identification. Ballots are often thrown out for minor discrepancies. That’s according to numbers published by the Election Administration and Voting Survey.
Support for the Arkansas Civic Minute is provided by Civic Arkansas, a Winthrop Rockefeller Institute program. As a nonprofit convenor, the Institute looks to strengthens civic health by putting people first, removing barriers to participation, and supporting community-led solutions for a more connected civic culture. More information at https://rockefellerinstitute.org/programs/civic-arkansas/.