Bill > SB173

This bill makes several technical corrections to Arkansas election law in Title 7 of the Arkansas Code. The first section clarifies procedures for duplicating damaged or defective ballots, specifying that when a ballot cannot be properly counted by an electronic tabulating device, election officials must create a duplicate ballot in the presence of another official and poll watchers. The duplicate ballot must be stamped "duplicate", the original ballot marked "original", both given a unique serial number, and the duplicate ballot is then counted like other ballots. The second section corrects a reference error in reporting independent expenditures, changing the reporting threshold from five hundred dollars to two hundred dollars. The third section modifies language in a statute about interfering with initiative petitions by changing the ending conjunction from "and" to "or". The final section provides legislative intent, emphasizing that these changes are technical rather than substantive, and ensuring that acts from the regular session of the Ninety-Fifth General Assembly are not inadvertently repealed or modified. The bill appears to be a routine cleanup measure to resolve minor inconsistencies in election-related statutes.

Justice

https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=sb173&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R