Senate panel considers and then rejects changes to absentee ballot rules in SB701

Senator Cassandra Tucker, sponsor of Senate Bill 701, presented a new amendment that would codify procedures for handling absentee ballots, limit how certain defects are cured and require clearer absentee ballot applications.

Tucker told the committee the amendment would make clear that absentee ballots designated provisional for missing voter identification could be cured only consistent with Arkansas Constitution Amendment 51, Section 13, and that a missing voter statement would render an absentee ballot ineligible to be counted. "If your voter statement is not included with your absentee ballot, then your vote will not be counted," Tucker said, describing the change as an explicit clarification in the proposed language.

The amendment removes the phrase allowing electronic curing by unspecified "electronic means," restricting cures to in-person or in-writing submissions, and retains a two-person canvass team for poll workers. Tucker also said the bill directs the Secretary of State to use plain language on absentee applications and to identify the election date to reduce confusion for voters.

County election officials who testified said the amendment left important operational questions unresolved. Christie Star, identified as chairwoman of the Pulaski County Election Commission, told the committee she was concerned that the amendment removes a statutory deadline for finishing the counting of absentee ballots and creates ambiguity about when counting ends: "When does counting end? That's to me a huge issue in this bill," she said. Star also raised concerns that the measure expands the role of temporary election officials and could allow county clerks — some of whom may run for office — to provide materials during a cure period.

June Matheny, who said she worked both absentee and election-day polling in Pulaski County, testified against the bill unless the practical issues she observed were resolved. Matheny described lengthy idle periods while canvassers waited for direction and said inconsistent instructions had contributed to confusion at polling sites.

Tucker defended the changes as intended to prevent ballots from going uncounted in counties with very large absentee volumes. He said the amendment creates a cure window that runs from election day until noon on the Monday following the election (previously described by the sponsor as close of business that Monday) and that the provision to require county clerks to turn over any materials in their possession to prosecutors or the State Board of Election Commissioners when fraud is suspected simply aligns existing practice with investigatory needs.

The committee adopted Tucker's amendment by voice vote, but later a motion to pass SB701 as amended failed for lack of a majority. After the failed passage motion, the committee voted to expunge the earlier recorded adoption of the amendment from the minutes.

The chair said the committee would reconvene as needed for other bills. The sponsor said he would appreciate a favorable vote on a later day.

Next steps: SB701 did not pass the committee during this session; the committee expunged the prior amendment-adoption vote from the record and left the bill without a favorable report.