Arkansas Absentee Voting Restrictions Initiative (2024)
| Arkansas Absentee Voting Restrictions Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Arkansas Absentee Voting Restrictions Initiative was not on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.
This measure would have amended the state constitution to place certain restrictions on absentee voting including changing the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot to 30 days before the election date instead of the Friday before the election date.[1]
Text of measure
Popular name
The popular name would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | The Absentee Voting Amendment of 2024[2] | ” |
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | An amendment to the Arkansas Constitution declaring that absentee voting in the state of Arkansas is not a right but a privilege; amending Amendment 50 to add additional sections effectuating a policy and practice in which absentee ballots may only be distributed within the 30 days before election day, limited to only registered voters who are unable to be present at the polls on election day because they are physically absent from the county in which they are registered to vote, or they are hospitalized, incarcerated, or in a long-term care facility within the county in which they are registered to vote; requiring the county clerk to distribute an absentee ballot only to a requesting and qualified voter; prohibiting absentee ballot harvesting by limiting the touching, handling, or possessing of absentee ballots to the requesting voter, an individual assisting a disabled voter, the United States Postal Service, or
a duly appointed and authorized election official; allowing an individual assisting a disabled voter to return the disabled voter’s absentee ballot to the county clerk’s office only by placing the voted ballot into the custody of the United States Postal Service but not by returning the ballot in person at the physical office of the county clerk; preventing the tracking of absentee ballots once they have been sent or provided to the voter unless the voter is tracking his or her own ballot or verifying that his or her cast absentee ballot has been received by a duly authorized election official; protecting information about who has requested an absentee ballot; ensuring that all absentee ballots are counted on election day before the early or election day votes are counted; prohibiting the counting of any absentee ballots not physically present and in the canvassing or tabulation process by the close of the polls on election day; exempting Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 9(i), which allows certain groups of citizens to vote without prior registration by absentee ballot, and any ballots requested, obtained, cast, canvassed, or counted pursuant to the federal Uniform Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act from the terms of this amendment; prohibiting any election in this state from being conducted using an internet, Bluetooth, or wireless connection; requiring that absentee ballots and absentee voting that does not strictly conform to the requirements of this amendment not be counted; and directing the Arkansas General Assembly to allocate funding to effectuate and implement the terms of this amendment.[2] |
” |
The attorney general's opinion may be found here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's counties. Signatures remain valid until the date of the next general election following the certification of ballot language. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2024 ballot:
- Signatures: 90,704 valid signatures
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 5, 2024.
If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.
Details about this initiative
- Clinton W. Lancaster filed the proposed initiative. Attorney General Tim Griffin approved the ballot language on January 11, 2024.[1]
- Sponsors did not submit signatures by the deadline.
See also
External links
Footnotes
 |
State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital) |
|---|---|
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