Arkansas Voter Registration Information

Presidential Primary Election
May 22, 2012

Presidential Primary Registration Deadline
April 22, 2012

Primary Election
May 22, 2012

Primary Election Voter Registration Deadline
April 22, 2012

Primary Runoff (if needed)
June 12, 2012

Primary Runoff Registration Deadline (if needed)
May 13, 2012

General Election
November 6, 2012

General Election Voter Registration Deadline
October 7, 2012

Voter Registration and Eligibility
Must register to vote 30 days before the election.
Can select party affiliation at the polls.

 QUALIFICATIONS

To register to vote in the state of Arkansas, an individual must meet the following qualifications:

• United States citizen
• Arkansas resident (residing in Arkansas at least 31 days prior to the first election in which you will vote)
• Age 18 before the next election within the county.
• Must not presently be adjudged mentally incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction
• Must not have been convicted of a felony without your sentence having been discharged or pardoned
• Must not claim the right to vote in another county or state

 OBTAINING A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM

Can register to vote in person or obtain a mail-in application at a:

• County Clerk's Office in your home county (Contact Information)
• State Revenue Office, Driver Services (pick up a paper form or ask for your information to be transmitted electronically)
• Public Library or Arkansas State Library
• Public Assistance Agency
• Disability Agency
• Military Recruitment Office
• Arkansas National Guard Office
• Voter Registration Drive

Obtain an voter registration application online:
English
Spanish

Military personnel may contact the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) or their Voting Assistance Officer for further information or to obtain a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). Call 1-800-438-8683 or e-mail the program at [email protected] or visit the website at www.fvap.gov.

For more information, see the Arkansas Secretary of State's Military Voting information page.

To know if you are registered, click here.

ARKANSAS ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Who Can Absentee Vote in Arkansas?

To be qualified to vote an absentee ballot, the voter must meet one of the following criteria:

• The voter will be unavoidably absent from your polling site on Election Day (the law does not require you to give a reason), OR
• Be Unable to attend your polling site on Election Day due to illness or physical disability, OR
• Be a member of the U.S. armed forces, merchant marines or the spouse or a dependent family member, OR
• Be a U.S. citizen domiciled in Arkansas but temporarily living outside the territorial limits of the United States.

How Can I Acquire an Absentee Ballot?

An application for an absentee ballot may be requested in person, by phone, by fax, or by other electronic medium in the County Clerk's Office, and the Clerk's Office may transmit the application form by mail, fax or other available electronic medium over the telephone lines to applicants when the Clerk's Office is so equipped.

Click here to find your local County Clerk's Office.

Requests for absentee ballots must be received by the office of the County Clerk no later than the day before Election Day if the request is made in person or by a designated bearer, or no later than seven days before the election if the request is sent through the mail.
Note: If submitted by authorized agent, the application must be returned by 1:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Arkansas absentee voter guide click here. 

How do I Return the Absentee Ballot and What is the Deadline?

The completed ballot must be received by the office of the County Clerk no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day if sent through the mail, delivered by designated bearer or by an authorized agent. If the voter wishes to hand-deliver the ballot, it must be received by the Clerk's Office no later than the end of regular business hours on the day before the election. You may not fax your ballot. If the ballot is sent from a voter outside of the United States, it must be received by the office of the County Clerk by 5:00 p.m., 10 days after the election.

Other Information on Absentee Voting in Arkansas

For those persons voting by absentee ballot who reside outside the county in which they are registered to vote, the application shall remain in effect for one year unless revoked by the voter, and the County Clerk shall thereafter automatically mail, no later than twenty-five days prior to each election, an absentee ballot for each election.
Except for persons of long-term care or residential facilities licensed by the state or other persons who are disabled voters, for those persons voting by absentee ballot who reside within the county in which they are registered to vote, the application shall only be valid for one election cycle (any one election and the corresponding run-off election).
Absentee ballots applied for not later than thirty days before the election by voters outside the United States on Election Day which are signed, dated, postmarked, and mailed by the voters no later than the day of the election and received by the county clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. ten calendar days after the date of the election will be counted.

 Additional Information for Overseas Voters

Source of information

Secretary of State
State Capitol, Rm 256
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Phone: (501)-682-1010
           (581)-682-5070
Secretary of State Elections Division Hotline 1-800-482-1127
E-mail:[email protected]

 http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections.html

PROTECT YOUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
BY EXERCISING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!