It is almost time to make your voice heard in the upcoming General Election. Early voting starts next week on Oct. 21, 2024. Election Day is November 5. This is your chance to vote for local, state, and federal offices, as well as participate in annual school board elections for districts that vote in the fall. Additionally, there will be local ballot issues and a runoff election for the Arkansas Supreme Court.
In 2023, the General Assembly passed Act 300, which requires that special issues, such as sales tax proposals and bond issues, be included on the same ballot as candidate elections. This means that your vote could have an even greater impact on the future of your community.
When you go to the polls, an election official will ask you to state your name, address, and date of birth. The election official will also request that you provide an approved form of I.D. If you are unable to vote in person on Election Day, you can apply for an absentee ballot by the appropriate deadline. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail or electronic means is October 29. If applying in person, the deadline is November 1. If you have questions about absentee voting, contact your county clerk.
Early voting begins in three Arkansas House primary runoff races
KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate
From the Arkansas Advocate:
Primary runoff elections are underway in three Arkansas House districts where the incumbents did not seek reelection.
Early voting began Tuesday and runoff election day is April 2 in races for House District 35, 63 and 88. Runoffs occur between the two candidates that received the most votes in a race where no candidate garnered more than 50% of the vote.
Jessie McGruder and Raymond Whiteside are the candidates in the Democratic primary for House District 35, which includes portions of Crittenden and Cross counties. The district’s current representative is Marion Democrat Rep. Milton Nicks, Jr., who isn’t seeking reelection after his fifth term in the House.
Early voting begins in three Arkansas House primary runoff races
Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate
Washington County voters wait to check in at a polling location at Sequoyah United Methodist Church in Fayetteville on March 5, 2024.
Attorney General Griffin Reminds Arkansans of election integrity unit ahead of early voting starting February 20
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement regarding his office’s Election Integrity Unit ahead of the start of early voting for the 2024 preferential primary election and nonpartisan general election:
“The public’s confidence in government is directly tied to the public’s confidence in our elections. Election integrity has always been a priority for me throughout my time in public service. I established the Election Integrity Unit last year to ensure the people of Arkansas have an outlet to submit complaints and ensure that all credible leads are investigated.
“Thanks to the legislature’s work last year, my office now has the authority to bring a civil cause of action against those who violate our election laws. This is an important tool to ensure that our laws are followed as monetary damages can be an effective deterrent.”
Griffin established the Election Integrity Unit (EIU) under his office’s Special Investigations Division in March 2023 with Chief Wayne Bewley serving as the unit’s director. In April, Act 544 of 2023 was signed into law. The Act codified the EIU and permitted the Office of the Attorney General to file civil suits for election-related offenses.
Griffin reminds Arkansans who may wish to file a complaint concerning potential election law violations to contact his office’s Election Law Hotline at (833) 995-8683.
Early Voting Begins Monday, October 24th
Voters are Reminded to Take ID to the Polls
(LITTLE ROCK, ARK.) – Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston would like to remind voters that early voting for the 2022 General Election, Nonpartisan Judicial Runoff Election, and School Elections begins on Monday, October 24th.
Early voting will run from October 24th through November 7th. Polls will be open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the final Monday before Election Day. Polls are closed on Sundays.
To check your voter registration, find your polling location and operating hours, or to view a sample ballot, visit www.voterview.org.
A voter guide containing unbiased information regarding ballot issues, produced by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Public Policy Center, can be accessed at www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/voter-education.
If you have moved to another county since you last voted, you have until Friday, November 4th to update your voter registration with your county clerk for this election.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 8th. Polls that day will be open from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Arkansas law requires that voters present a photo ID before voting.
Election results will be available at the Secretary of State's website after the polls close on Election Day at www.sos.arkansas.gov.
AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Your Vote Matters
If you’re not convinced that every vote counts, consider the race for one of the U.S. Senate seats in Pennsylvania. At last count, the difference in the totals was 31.2 percent to 31.1 percent – two tenths of a percentage point difference.
Closer to home, in our neighboring state to the south, the new mayor of Pineville, Louisiana, won by five votes. If only six of the loser’s supporters had voted, he would have won by a single vote.
In the 2020 election, the candidates for a school board seat in California tied. So the winner, as the law requires, was decided by a roll of the dice. The challenger rolled snake eyes, and the incumbent threw a three. Even with the dice, the winner won by only one.
Stories such as those are interesting. Since they are rare, we may be inclined to overlook the one fact that each race had in common: The winner was chosen by the slimmest of margins. That slim margin will determine who will make consequential decisions that affect voters.
Arkansas’s 2022 election may be one of the most consequential in a decade. We have redrawn the state’s legislative boundaries, which the law requires every ten years after the U.S. Census. Although many legislators will be re-elected, we are in a sense electing a brand-new general assembly.
Thanks to Arkansas’s term-limit law, we also are electing a new governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, and treasurer; the incumbent Republican secretary of state has a challenger in the primary and will face a Democrat Party challenger in the general election. The incumbent land commissioner will have an opponent in the general election, and three people are running in the general election to become auditor. We will be choosing three associate justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court, four court of appeals associate judges, sixteen circuit judges, twenty-eight prosecuting attorneys, and one district court judge.
Our four representatives in the United States House are running for re-election, as is one of our U.S. senators.
Every one of the candidates we elect will have a direct effect on many Arkansans. Voting in Arkansas is easy. Early voting continues Saturday and until 5 p.m. Monday. On Tuesday, Election Day, the polls are open from 7:30 in the morning until 7:30 p.m. That gives every voter twelve hours to cast a ballot.
Even with a one-hundred percent voter turnout, the outcome of a race could be razor thin. But a large turnout at least gives us the assurance our government reflects the authentic voice of voters. The United States is a free nation because many worked and fought to give us freedom. Our vote is a note of thanks.
Arkansas House Fails Bill To Eliminating Early Voting On Mondays Before Election Days
A bill that would have eliminated early voting on the day before an Election Day in Arkansas failed in the state House of Representatives on Tuesday, the final full day of the legislative session.
The chamber ultimately did not pass Senate Bill 485, with 39 representatives voting for it and 43 members voting against it. The bill would have eliminated early voting on the day before either a primary or general election.
The bill failed three times in a Senate committee and one time in a House committee before ultimately advancing through the legislature and being brought up for a vote in the House Tuesday, where if it had passed, would have gone to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Rep. Justin Gonzales, R-Okalona, presents Senate Bill 485 to the House.
CREDIT ARKANSAS HOUSE
Bill Eliminating Early Voting On The Day Before An Election Again Fails In Committee
A bill that would eliminate early voting in Arkansas on the Monday before an Election Day has failed in a Senate committee for a second time.
During a voice vote Tuesday, members of the Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee did not have enough yes votes to advance Senate Bill 485. It would eliminate all early voting in Arkansas on the day before both a preferential primary or general election day.
Four members of the public spoke against the bill, including Joshua Price, an election commissioner with the Pulaski County Election Commission. He addressed claims brought up in the prior hearing on the bill suggesting that poll workers needed a day off before Election Day in order to prepare.
Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, again presents Senate Bill 485, to the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.
CREDIT ARKANSAS SENATE
Arkansas County Clerks See Uptick In Absentee Ballot Requests, But Feel Prepared For 2020 Election
With the general election less than two weeks away, Arkansans currently have three ways to vote: on Election Day, Nov. 3, during early voting which runs until Nov. 2, or with an absentee ballot, where the deadline to apply to receive one by mail is Oct. 27.
On the Arkansas absentee ballot application itself, voters must choose between three options for requesting a ballot.
Arkansas County Clerks See Uptick In Absentee Ballot Requests, But Feel Prepared For 2020 Election
With the general election less than two weeks away, Arkansans currently have three ways to vote: on Election Day, Nov. 3, during early voting which runs until Nov. 2, or with an absentee ballot, where the deadline to apply to receive one by mail is Oct. 27.
Notice from Sevier County Clerk - Debbie Akin
Reminder that October 5 is last day to register to vote and a reminder to request an application for an absentee ballot. We will begin mailing ballots on September 18. Reminder to keep in mind that you need to act soon if you want to vote absentee by mail. We want all votes to count. The earlier you get your ballot mailed the sooner it can be accounted for. Our office will not be offended if voters want to call to verify that their ballot has been received.
WE ARE STILL IN NEED OF POLL WORKERS. WE WILL BE TRAINING WORKERS SEPTEMBER 28 THROUGH OCTOBER 2. Anyone interested should call 870-642-2852 before September 28.
Thanks
Debbie Akin
Sevier County Clerk
115 N. 3rd St.
Room 102
De Queen, AR 71832
870-642-2852