Arkansas Elections

One bill would ban ballot boxes for absentee voting, while the other deals with paper and electronic ballots.

The lawsuit challenges a new Arkansas measure that makes it harder to get initiatives on the ballot by raising the number of counties where signatures must be gathered.

House Bill 1419 would require petitioners to get signatures from 50 counties, instead of 15, to get a citizen-led issue on the ballot.

The legislation comes after one Arkansas county decided to avoid the use of voting machines

The bill advanced through the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee on Thursday.

A federal appeals court heard arguments Wednesday over whether the Voting Rights Act allows private citizens to sue to enforce a key part of the 1965 law prohibiting discriminatory voting practices.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled that a state law passed in 2019 violates the rights of the Libertarian Party of Arkansas.

Secretary of State John Thurston told backers of an amendment to strike Pope County as a destination for a casino that they did not qualify due to a lack of signatures.

Under new laws passed by the Arkansas Legislature in recent years, many political observers expected greater difficulty in collecting ballot petition signatures.

A report compared all states in the U.S., suggesting Arkansas voters will face challenges in upcoming elections, including barriers in accessibility, registration and absentee ballots.