Senate committee advances package of election bills, tightens absentee and recount rules; National Guard cleanup passes

A Senate committee on STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS on the record advanced a slate of bills on election procedure, public-records protections and military justice changes.

Matt McKee, identifying himself as "Matt McKee, state senate 6," opened discussion of Senate bill 2 55 and the committee moved it by voice vote. The panel then considered House bill 14 07, adopting two amendments: one to require third-party voter-registration collectors to inform registrants they may not be able to file the registration before a deadline, and a second with language the secretary of state's office requested to help implement a citizenship-verification system.

"Basically, this, just sets up the system by which the secretary of state can make sure that if you're registered to vote in Arkansas, you live here legally, and you are a qualified elector, that you're on the voter rolls," the proponent said during discussion of the citizenship-verification language.

The committee also approved a measure to strengthen chain-of-custody rules for absentee ballots. Matt Stone (presenting as state senate, District 2) described the bill as prohibiting unsolicited absentee ballots, requiring that mailed ballots be requested, and requiring that printed ballots be blank and that anyone picking up a ballot be authorized and provide identification to prevent fraud involving vulnerable voters.

"When the ballot is printed, it must be blank. No voter information is to be filled out," Stone said in his presentation.

Lawmakers debated recount timing and technical cleanup language in House bill 14 23, which codifies procedures and deadlines for recount petitions. Senator Payton questioned tying the petition deadline to a fixed date — "12 noon on the seventh day following the election" — rather than to when results are known. Daniel Schultz of the State Election Commission explained the change responded to a case in which a county failed to report preliminary results, creating a scenario where a candidate could try to force a recount at the certification deadline and leave the commission with insufficient notice.

"This comes from a situation that we encountered, where a county failed to, do its initial reporting," Schultz said, describing the rationale for setting a drop-dead date while extending recount considerations to include provisional ballots alongside UOCAVA ballots.

On public-records protections, Kevin Clegg Horns, president of the Arkansas Coroners Association, urged changes to prevent release of coroner/autopsy reports during ongoing criminal investigations. "So what we're asking is that we protect the coroner's reports in an ongoing criminal investigation just as the crime labs reports are protected and law enforcement's reports are protected until that case is over with," Horns said. The committee approved the bill by voice vote.

Separately, the committee approved a Department of the Military cleanup bill that implements several National Defense Authorization Act provisions for the Arkansas National Guard, clarifies when out-of-state judge advocates may serve in courts-martial, and removes the antiquated phrasing "and a gentleman" from the offense of "conduct unbecoming an officer." Jeff Wood, chief of staff for the Department of the Military, said the changes align state practice with federal standards.

"They made a couple procedural changes on what the judge does in courts martial and then finally, they changed the offense from conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman to dropping the gentleman piece of that," Wood said.

Votes at a glance

- Senate bill 2 55 — motion to pass recorded and approved by voice vote.
- House bill 14 07 — two amendments adopted (clarifying third-party registration notification and Secretary of State implementation language); bill passed as amended.
- Chapter/House bill 14 11 (absentee-ballot chain of custody) — passed by voice vote.
- Senate bill 2 58 (concurrence; drop-box definition) — concurrence approved by voice vote.
- House bill 14 23 (recount procedures) — discussed at length; motion to pass carried by voice vote.
- House bill 14 25 / 15 57 (Department of the Military cleanup) — passed by voice vote.
- House bill (coroner reports / FOIA protection) — passed by voice vote.
- SB 397 (DHS email notice with consent) — passed by voice vote.
- House bill 15 24 (cleanup/disclosure) — passed by voice vote.
- Campaign-signage amendment (clarifying 'attended by a person' and site rules) — adopted; committee adjourned.

What it means

The committee's action advances multiple measures to the next stage of consideration where they will be scheduled according to legislative rules. The election-related bills change procedural details — notification language for third-party registrants, citizenship-verification implementation language, chain-of-custody rules for absentee ballots, and recount timing — intended by sponsors and agency witnesses to reduce operational problems in close or delayed-count races and to prevent possible fraud or confusion. Proponents argued the coroner-report change is intended to protect criminal investigations and defendants' rights; opponents were not recorded in the transcript.

The hearing included multiple technical questions from senators seeking to ensure statutory language preserves existing options (for example, hand counts) while updating the code for current equipment and procedures. Committee action in several instances included amendments requested by the Secretary of State and clarifying language offered by the State Election Commission.

The committee adjourned after taking voice votes on the listed measures.