arkansas secretary of state
Arkansas candidates for state and federal offices begin filing for 2024 election
Arkansas’ first candidates for next year’s elections formally entered their races Monday, kicking off the weeklong candidate filing period and the 2024 election cycle. President Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s campaigns registered for the ballot here along with representatives for other Republican presidential candidates: Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Two of Arkansas’ sitting […]
Arkansas 2024 candidate filing period opens Monday for state, federal offices
The 2024 election cycle officially begins in Arkansas on Monday with the week-long candidate filing period. Secretary of State John Thurston plans to open the state Capitol rotunda to candidates at noon Monday. Pomp and circumstance usually rules the first half hour, and some candidates race to be the first filers of the year. In […]
Arkansas Secretary of State seeks design submissions for anti-abortion monument at Capitol
The Arkansas Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission is seeking potential designs for a “monument to the unborn” at the state Capitol, in accordance with a new state law. Act 310 of 2023 authorizes the Secretary of State to decide where to place “a suitable monument commemorating unborn children aborted during the era of Roe v. […]
Arkansas secretary of state to run for state treasurer in ’24
Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston said Wednesday that he will run in next year’s special election for state treasurer, an office that was left vacant last month with the death of Treasurer Mark Lowery. Thurston’s announcement comes less than a year after he was elected to a second four-year term as secretary of state. […]
Arkansas LEARNS Act repeal effort fails to gather enough signatures for ‘24 ballot question
This article was updated at 3:55 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, to include comments from the Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders The public education group that spent the summer petitioning for a ballot measure to repeal the LEARNS Act failed to gather enough signatures and submit the proper […]
Arkansas LEARNS repeal group, in reversal, claims it gathered enough signatures for ballot effort
Citizens of Arkansas for Public Education and Students now believes it collected enough signatures to continue its effort to repeal the LEARNS Act through a 2024 ballot referendum. CAPES Executive Director Steve Grappe initially feared the group fell just short of the threshold following a frenetic finish at Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline. After additional analysis […]
States with low election turnout did little in 2023 to expand voting access
This year’s state legislative sessions are almost all wrapped up. And on voting and elections policy, the headlines have largely focused on a new wave of restrictive voting laws passed in big Republican-led states like Florida, Texas, and Ohio, as well as expansive laws approved in Democratic-led states like Michigan, Minnesota, and New York. But […]
Organization launches effort to place Arkansas LEARNS Act repeal on the ballot
A group of public school supporters took the first step Monday to pursue a referendum petition to repeal the LEARNS Act, a wide-ranging education law signed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March. Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) filed a statement of organization with the Arkansas Ethics Commission on Monday and […]
Arkansas group pitches hand-count elections to counties as Legislature prepares to weigh in
An Arkansas group with connections to former President Donald Trump is traveling the state with a pitch to county quorum courts: ditch the voting machines. Instead, the Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative urges counties to rely on paper ballots marked and counted by hand. The group had existed in relative obscurity since it was formed last […]
Arkansas Senate committee votes to forbid absentee ballot drop boxes
A group of Arkansas senators recommended Thursday that the full Senate pass a ban on ballot drop boxes — a process that isn’t happening in Arkansas. Bill sponsor Sen. Tyler Dees (R-Siloam Springs) said Senate Bill 258 would prevent the use absentee ballot drop boxes, which he called a “beacon of mistrust,” from coming to […]
Arkansas election authority will investigate Phillips County reporting struggles
Ongoing problems with tallying and reporting voting data led the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners this week to agree to open an investigation into the Phillips County Election Commission. The board unanimously agreed Tuesday to have director Daniel Shults file a complaint against the commission, which failed to upload the results of this month’s election […]
Phillips County recount in Arkansas House District 62 race does not change results
A recount in Phillips County on Monday solidified State Rep. Mark McElroy’s reelection victory in Arkansas House District 62, according to the Helena World, Phillips County’s local newspaper. McElroy (R-Tillar) faced Democrat Dexter Miller, a Phillips County resident who requested the recount Friday. He said he thought something was amiss in the initial results, especially […]