History of Arkansas voting laws a back-and-forth of Black progress, tighter restrictions

EDITOR'S NOTE: This page is part of a comprehensive guide to voting rights across the U.S and in Puerto Rico.  

Voting rights in Arkansas have progressed since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when literacy tests were outlawed.

Janine Parry, a University of Arkansas professor, said prior to the act about 3% of Black Arkansans were registered to vote. After, about 72% were registered to vote.

“The effect here was dramatic," Parry said.

This time of greater voting for Black Arkansans corresponded with the rise of Winthrop Rockefeller, who counted on the Black vote to become the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction.

But by 1981, the picture was different. That year, the state passed a statewide legislative apportionment plan under the Voting Rights Act. Black voters subsequently filed a suit in federal court in 1989 alleging the state’s plan violated the act and that voting rights of Black residents were violated.

The Jeffers v. Clinton case was heard at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The result was several racial “majority-minority” districts for the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate had to be re-drawn so that the minority populations would have a better opportunity to elect their preferred candidate. The plan created seven more majority-Black House districts and two more majority-Black Senate districts.

Recent changes to Arkansas voting brought more restrictions

In more recent years, the state has seen a flurry of new laws aimed at voting.

During the 2021 legislative session, Republicans passed, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law or allowed to become law without his signature, more than 20 different bills affecting voting rights in Arkansas. Three of these laws changed how absentee ballots were processed, the Arkansas State Senate reports.

Some of the new laws affect poll workers, county election commissioners and county clerks’ office.

Others affect voters the next time they cast a ballot. For example, Act 249 of 2021 tightens the current photo ID requirement. It eliminates the option that allowed voters to have their ballot counted, even though they did not bring a photo ID to the polling place, if they filled out a sworn statement that they were registered to vote.

Parry said that in the last legislative session, Arkansas lawmakers focused on restricting voter access and tightened laws concerning voting. They shortened the early-voting period, as well as the length of time voters have to submit their absentee ballots.

Arkansas's voter fraud

Arkansas does not have any laws specifically defining voter fraud, said Chris Madison, the attorney for the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners.

During the 2020 election, the state board processed 51 separate complaints, which created about 190 separate issues and allegations.

"Some of these were dismissed as lacking merit, while others were found true upon investigation," Madison said about the 190 issues and allegations. "Some of these complainant alleged violations by election officials, such as not meeting required deadlines and such.  So I cannot say that there were 190 allegations of voters committing violations, but I can say that the State Board examined 190 allegations of violations of election law throughout the 2020 election cycle."

In the last 10 years, Arkansas has made strides toward making voting more accessible by utilizing voting centers, which allow people to vote at any of the centers they desire rather than being confined to their specific polling site, Parry said.

Other highlights of voting rights include 2013, when the Arkansas General Assembly passed a bill mandating that prospective voters show a picture identification to poll workers before being allowed to cast a ballot. The voter ID law was struck down by Circuit Judge Tim Fox on April 24, 2014, but he issued a stay of his ruling until it could be appealed to the Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Reporter Alex Gladden contributed to this article. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas voting rights: Who can vote in AK has changed since 1965