• Official Arkansas Website
• Secretary of State Website
• Election Homepage
  
  • Absentee Voting Rules Webpage

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

1. Be a U.S. citizen.
2. Be an Arkansas resident 31 days before the first election in which you will vote.
3. Be age 18 or turn 18 on or before the next election.
4. Not be a convicted felon whose sentence has been discharged or pardoned.
5. Not be presently adjudged as mentally incompetent as to your ability to vote by a court of competent jurisdiction.
6. Not be registered to vote in another county in Arkansas or another state.

How to apply to register to vote:

• County Clerk's office in your home county.

• State Revenue Office.
• Public or state library.
• Public Assistance Agency or Disability Agency.
• Voter registration drive.
• Military recruitment office.
• Arkansas National Guard.
• Apply by mail - Obtain an application from:

- Your county clerk.
- Secretary of State Voter Services: 1-800-247-3312
- The internet at www.sosweb.state.ar.us/vote/vote/html.

Voting can be conducted three different ways in the state of Arkansas.

1. Go to the polls on election day between the hours of 7:30am and 7:30pm.
2. Vote early, which can be done at the county clerks office. The window for this method of voting varies on the nature of the election, example special election have specific hours you can turn up and vote whereas general elections you can cast your vote during the county clerk's regular business hours.
3. Absentee voting, which is restricted to due cause. This means that the voter must have proof of unavoidable conflict or illness once that requirement is fulfilled the voter is free to submit an absentee ballot. The ballot should be submitted by election day if mailed in and by the close of the business day before the election if dropped off in person.

Deadlines

• Deadline to register to vote in November 2008 election: October 6, 2008
  • You must submit your application to an official voter registration agency or mail it no later than 30 days prior to an election in which you wish to vote. The postmark on a mail-in application will be considered the submission date.
• Deadline to register for absentee ballot in November 2008 election: The deadline depends on your method for submitting the application back to the county clerk
• In person by you - November 3, 2008
• By designated bearer - November 3, 2008
• By mail or fax - October 28, 2008
• By authorized agent - by 1:30 p.m. on November 4, 2008
• Early voting begins: October 20, 2008
  
• 2008 - Election Dates and Deadlines

What else?

• If you completed your application at a voter registration drive, the organizers must submit it to the county clerk or Secretary of State's office within 21 days of the date on the application or no later than 30 days prior to the next election.
  
• If you submit your application close to an election registration deadline, you are strongly advised to follow up on your registration status with your county clerk before Election Day.
  
• If an election deadline is looming, there is one method of application that will ensure your eligibility: apply in person with your county clerk.
• If you have not received verification from your county clerk, be sure to confirm your registration BEFORE Election Day.

Voting Equipment
Depending on the system chosen by their county, voters in Arkansas use either an electronic touchscreen (also called direct-recording electronic, or DRE) or optical-scan paper ballots.

• DRE - Features a large ballot mounted on a touch-sensitive panel. For each voter, poll workers activate the system and choose the appropriate ballot style using a panel on the back of the machine. The voter then touches numbered boxes beside each choice. Flashing lights indicate races for which the voters has not yet voted.
  
• Optical Scan System - Voters mark paper ballots that are fed into a scanner located at either the polling site or at a central location in the county. The scanner reads the ballots electronically and totals the votes after the poles close. Scanners will alert voters to over-voted races and under-voted ballots. Voters must check their ballots very carefully before placing them in the ballot box because once the ballot is accepted by the machine or dropped into the ballot box, it is final.
  
• iVotronic - Special features allow voters with limited mobility or impaired vision to vote privately without assistance. The iVotronic has a paper record that remains in the machine but allows voters to verify their vote as it is made. Officials will use the paper printout for any recounts that may result.

More from Arkansas Vote Watch.