Arkansas elections, 2012

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The state of Arkansas held elections in 2012. Below are the dates of note:

• Signature filing deadline: March 1, 2012 & July 6, 2012 (Measures only)
• Primary date: May 22, 2012
• General election date: November 6, 2012

On the 2012 ballot			Click here for all November 6, 2012 Election Results
U.S. Senate	d	Preview Article
U.S. House (4 seats)	a
State Executives	d	N/A
State Senate (35 seats)	a	Preview Article
State House (100 seats)	a
Ballot measures (3 measures)	a	Preview Article

2012 Elections

Note: Election information listed on this page does not pertain to 2012 presidential elections. For more about Ballotpedia's areas of coverage, click here.
For election results in the 50 states, see our November 6, 2012 election results page

U.S. House

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2012

Members of the U.S. House from Arkansas -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	1	0
	Republican Party	3	4
Total		4	4

State Senate

See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Democrats maintained partisan control in the state senate.

Arkansas State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	20	14
	Republican Party	15	21
Total		35	35

State House

See also: Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Democrats maintained partisan control in the state house.

Arkansas House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	54	49
	Republican Party	46	51
Total		100	100

Ballot measures

See also: Arkansas 2012 ballot measures

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Issue 1	Taxes	Half-cent sales tax	a
LRCA	Issue 2	Taxes	Cities and counties allowed to create tax-advantaged development districts	d
CISS	Issue 5	Marijuana	Authorize sale/consumption of medical marijuana	d

Recalls

See also: Political recall efforts and Recall campaigns in Arkansas

Mayoral recalls

Arkansas saw the most recall action of any state on November 6, with six mayors facing recall. Voters went to the polls to decide whether Tim McLellan of Kingsland, Ronnie Conley of Cotton Plant, Johnny McMahan of Bauxite, Paul Mitchell of Alexander, Tony Lawhon of Redfield, and Clinton Harris of Wilmot could keep their elected positions.

Arkansas recall action in 2012

The six recall elections on November 6 were the first recall elections to take place in Arkansas in 2012. Recall efforts against three other mayors, Jill Dabbs of Bryant, Jeff Crockett of Harrison, and Sheila Walters of Trumann, failed to make the ballot.

Eligibility to Vote

Primary election

See also: Voting in the 2012 primary elections

Arkansas was one of 16 states to use an open primary system. When runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election. Voters had to register by April 23, 2012 to vote in the primary. (Information about registering to vote)

General election

See also: Voting in the 2012 general elections

The deadline to register to vote was 30 days prior to the election day, which in 2012 was October 8.

• Voter ID info
• Residency requirements: Residing in Arkansas at least 30 days prior to the election
• Same-day registration: None

Voting absentee

See also: Absentee Voting

Arkansas voters are eligible to vote absentee/mail-in in an election if they cannot make it to the polls on Election Day for one of the following reasons:

• The voter will be "unavoidably absent" from his or her polling location on Election Day.
• The voter is physically unable to visit his or her polling location on Election Day due to illness or disability.
• The voter is a member of the armed services, merchant marines, or is the spouse or dependent of such an individual and "are away from your polling location due to the member’s active duty status."
• The voter is temporarily living outside the United States.

To vote absentee/mail-in, a request must be received by elections officials either seven days prior to the election (if submitted by mail or fax), by the Friday before the election (if submitted in person), or by 1:30 p.m. on the day of the election if the request is made by an authorized agent for a voter confined in a hospital or nursing home. The deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot is by close of business the Friday before the election if returned in person, or received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day if submitted by mail or by an authorized agent. Military and overseas voters must complete their ballot by Election Day and they must be received by their county clerk by 5:00 p.m. 10 days after the election.

Voting early

See also: Early voting

Arkansas is one of 34 states that permits early voting with no specific restrictions as to who can vote early. Depending on the type of election, early voting begins seven to 15 days before an election and ends on the day prior to Election Day.

See also

• Statewide elections, 2012
• 2012 election dates
• Election result resources
• Voter guides
• State Blue Books
• State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
• Voting in Arkansas
• Absentee voting
• Early voting