Frequently Asked Questions

If a person is a naturalized U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, is an Arkansas resident, is not a felon who has not discharged their sentences, and has not been determined to be mentally incompetent, then that person is eligible to register and vote. Anyone who is a naturalized citizen meeting these requirements may vote if they have registered at least 30 days before the election.

​The Primary Election is May 24, 2022.

Information regarding senators can be found on the Arkansas Senate website. For additional information, please contact the Arkansas senate.

Information about the state representatives can be found on the Arkansas State Representatives website. For additional information, please contact the house of representatives.

Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm CST. This may vary due to holidays.

The Financial Report tutorial can be found here. For additional questions, please call 501-682-5070.

On our Financial Disclosure wepage.

November 8, 2022

To be announced at a later date.

There are some forms online however we will have the paperwork for you to fill out when you come to the filing period.

If it is school a election, please see our Information for Candidates webpage. If it is a special election please contact your county clerk.

Please review the Running for Public Office handbook. If you still have questions after reading it you can call 501-682-5070.

Financial disclosure reports can be found on our Financial Disclosure Archive Search page.

You will need to contact the Arkansas Ethics Commission at 501-324-9600.

Yes, these tutorials can be found on our Financial Disclosure page.

This request can be placed on the Arkansas Ethics Commission website.

This information can be found on our Financial Disclosure page.

This information can be found on our Financial Disclosure page.

This information can be found on our Financial Disclosure page.

This information can be found on our Financial Disclosure page.

If everything is submitted that is required, it will take 3-5 business days.

Call 501-682-5070 for questions regarding bounced checks for athlete agents.

Click here to view the Arkansas Athlete Agents form.

The law can be found here.

This information can be found on our Athlete Agent Registration Information page.

We have an online list of agents. This information can be found on our Athlete Agent Registration Information page.

You just need to submit a letter stating you are no longer with that agency and if you have switched which agency you are with. The Secretary of State’s Office will update your file.

Yes, the Secretary of State’s Office keeps copies of your certificate on file.

You will receive a rejection letter stating what is missing and your paperwork.

1. Your paperwork with a filed stamp.
2. A registration or renewal letter.
3. Certificate of registration or renewal.

If you have a valid registration from another state that was issued within the last 6 months and the application is similar or more comprehensive as the Arkansas application and the application was signed under penalty of perjury, we will accept that application.

$100

2 Years

$500

There are different qualifications for different offices. Please see the Running for Public Office Handbook for more information

A write-in candidate is not affiliated with a party and is not required to circulate a petition. The candidate’s name does not appear on the ballot. the voter will literally “write in” the candidate’s name on their ballot to vote for them.

An independent candidate is someone with no party affiliation. In lieu of paying a filing fee to a party, the candidate circulates and submits a petition.

No. You may run as an independent or write-in candidate, depending on the office sought.

If you choose to run under a political party, there is usually a fee associated with filing for office. Those fees are set and collected by the respective political parties. If you choose to run as an independent or write-in candidate, there is no fee.

For federal, state and district offices, you will file with the Secretary of State. For county, township, municipal, and school board offices, you will file with your local county clerk.

Example: I want to file for US Senate/Governor/State Representative/Circuit Judge. File with the Secretary of State.
Example: I want to file for County Assessor/Constable/City Council member. File with the County Clerk.

The candidate filing period for state, district, county and township offices is dependent upon when the primary election will be held.

During presidential election years, the candidate filing period is held near the end of October the year before the election.

During gubernatorial (Governor) elections, the candidate filing period is held near the end of February of the year of the election.

Yes. Once you’re registered, it’s important to update your voter information whenever you move or have a legal name change. Keeping your record current can help avoid delays on Election Day. It’s easy to do using the Arkansas Voter Registration Application.

Complete a Voter Registration Application, checking the box for “This is an address change” and completing the bottom half of the form. Submit it to the county clerk in your new county no later than 4 days before a scheduled election. Otherwise, you will not be eligible to vote in your new county for that election.

Counties will periodically mail notices to voters who have not voted in several elections. If you receive such a notice, it is important that you mark your correct address and return the notice to the county clerk so your registration can be updated.

The County Clerk performs another safeguard: routinely checking for duplicate registrations across the state. Just to make sure, it’s best for you to notify the county clerk in your old county and confirm that your registration has been transferred.

Voter Registration Application

(1) This answer speaks to moving from one county to another but not from one address to another within the same county. We need to address that, perhaps creating another separate entry. (2) Need to make sure the 4 days deadline mentioned here is addressed in the other entry for deadlines.

Yes. You must update your voter information as soon as possible. For voters that move from one county to another, they must update their voter information no later than four days prior to a scheduled election.

Once you’re registered, it’s important to update your voter information whenever you move or have a legal name change. Keeping your record current can help avoid delays on Election Day. It’s easy to do using the Arkansas Voter Registration Application.

If you legally change your name due to marriage, divorce or other reason, complete a Voter Registration Application and check the box for “This is a name change,” making sure to complete the bottom half of the form.

For voting purposes, military service members, their families and U.S. citizens residing overseas may use the address where they resided before entering service or their legal U.S. residence as the address where they register to vote. You may register to vote using an Arkansas Voter Registration Application or a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA SF-76). The FPCA simultaneously serves all states and territories as both a registration form and application for an absentee ballot.

Military personnel may contact their county clerk, 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 vote@fvap.gov or go to www.fvap.gov.

For Arkansas-specific information, visit:
www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/military-and-overseas-citizens
UOCAVA FAQs

You must register to vote wherever you actually “live or reside.” Owning property or a business in a county does not constitute residency in that county.

You must decide which county you consider “home.” If you plan to live in your home county after college, then list your parents’ address as your residence. If you do NOT intend to return there, you may list your college address as your residence. Remember: you must keep your address CURRENT on your voter registration. That’s one reason college students often list their parents’ address, which may not change as often.

If you have moved from one county to another within Arkansas, you must transfer your registration to your new county of residence. For questions about transferring your registration, ask your county clerk for assistance.

If you have moved to Arkansas from another state, notify the voter registrar in your previous state of residence to request cancellation. Be sure to submit a new registration application to your county clerk in Arkansas.

Consider yourself registered when you receive an acknowledgment from your county clerk. This may take several weeks, regardless of your method of application.

If you do not receive a notice within two weeks of applying, call your county clerk or go to www.VoterView.org and enter your name and date of birth to see if your application has been processed.

One method of application that will ensure your eligibility is to apply in person with your county clerk.

If you are changing your residence to another county within the state, your updated registration must be received by the county clerk’s office in the new county no later than 4 days before a scheduled election.

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 and no later than 30 days prior to the next election.

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 mailed application will be its submission date.

If you are registering to vote by mail:

You must provide either your Arkansas driver’s license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number on your Arkansas Voter Registration Application. If you don’t have either a driver’s license or Social Security number, check the box in #9 on the application.

If you check the box indicating that you do not possess either a driver’s license or Social Security number, you should submit a photocopy of one of the following with your mail-in application:

1. Current and valid photo identification, or

2. A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck that shows your name and address, or

3. Other government documents that show your name and address.

If you do not provide a driver’s license number, a social security number or an identification document that meets the above requirements, you may be required to vote a Provisional Ballot when you vote for the first time.

Yes. Obtain an application from:

- Your county clerk

- Secretary of State Elections Division, 1-800-247-3312

- Online at www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/voter-information

Register to vote at your local:

- County clerk’s office in your home county

- Office of Driver Services, State Revenue Division (Application can be transmitted electronically or you can pick up a paper form to complete and mail in.)

- Local public library or Arkansas State Library

- Public assistance agency that provides services under Food Stamps, Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programs

- Agency that offers state-funded programs and services to persons with disabilities.

- Military recruitment office

- Arkansas National Guard

- Voter registration drive

You may also apply by mail.

To register to vote, you must:

- Be a citizen of the United States

- Be an Arkansas resident (residing in Arkansas at least 30 days before the first election in which you will vote)

- Be age 18 or turn 18 on or before the next election

- Not be convicted of a felony without your sentence having been discharged or pardoned

- Not be presently adjudged as mentally incompetent as to your ability to vote by a court of competent jurisdiction

To obtain this voter verification card, voters will be required to complete an affidavit stating they do not possess such identification, and must provide documentation containing their full legal name and date of birth, as well as documentation containing their name and residential address. Please contact your county clerk for information regarding acceptable forms of documentation.

Voters who do not possess a valid form of identification meeting the requirements may obtain a free voter verification card at their county clerk’s office.

To obtain this voter verification card, voters will be required to complete an affidavit stating they do not possess such identification, and must provide documentation containing their full legal name and date of birth, as well as documentation containing their name and residential address. Please contact your county clerk for information regarding acceptable forms of documentation.

Voters unable to verify registration when voting in person shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots cast in this manner will be counted if:

1. The voter returns to the county board of election commissioners or the county clerk by 12:00 noon on the Monday following the election and presents a document or identification card meeting the requirements described above, and the county board of election commissioners does not determine that the provisional ballot is invalid and should not be counted based on other grounds. (For more information about casting provisional ballots, see page 19)

Each voter shall verify his or her registration when voting by presenting a document or identification card that:

1. Shows the name of the person to whom the document or identification card was issued;

2. Shows a photograph of the person to whom the document or identification card was issued;

3. Is issued by the United States, the State of Arkansas, or an accredited post-secondary educational institution in the State of Arkansas; and

4. If displaying an expiration date, is not expired or expired no more than four (4) years before the date of the election in which the voter seeks to vote.

Documents and identification cards that will be accepted as verification of voter registration include without limitation: A driver’s license; A photo identification card; A concealed handgun carry license; A United States passport; An employee badge or identification document issued by an accredited post-secondary education institution in the State of Arkansas; A United States military identification document; A public assistance identification card if the card shows a photograph of the person to whom the document or identification card was issued; A voter verification card as provided under Ark. Code § 7-5-324.

A person who is a resident of a long-term care or residential care facility licensed by the state of Arkansas is not required to verify his or her registration by presenting a document or identification card as described above when voting in person but must provide documentation from the administrator of the facility attesting that the person is a resident of the facility.

No. You may not fax or email a ballot.

UOCAVA voters must vote their ballot by Election Day, and it must be received by their county clerk by 5:00 p.m. 10 days after the election.

The term “UOCAVA” refers to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. A UOCAVA voter is a military or overseas citizen and their spouse. Please visit our Military and Overseas Voting page for more information.

Must be received at clerk’s office by 7:30 p.m. ON election day.

-You may NOT fax or email a ballot.

-UOCAVA voters must vote their ballot by Election Day, and it must be received by their county clerk by 5:00 p.m. 10 days after the election.

Click here to learn more on UOCAVA.

By 7:30 p.m. on election day.

By 7:30 p.m. on election day.

By close of business the day before the election.

No deadline is specified in Arkansas law. You should base your ballot pick-up on the ability to return it to the County Clerk on time.

No earlier than 15 days before a preferential primary election, general election, school election, or special election and no earlier than seven days before a runoff election.

By 1:30 p.m. ON election day. The authorized agent must file with the County Clerk an affidavit from the administrative head of a hospital or nursing home located in this state verifying that the applicant is a patient of the hospital or long-term care or residential care facility licensed by the state and is thereby unable to vote on the election day at his or her regular polling site.

Mentions “Authorized Agent” here. Can we define?

By seven days before the election. “Electronic means” refers to email or fax.

An Authorized Agent is a person authorized to deliver an application, obtain a ballot, and return a voted ballot for a voter that is medically unable to vote in person. An affidavit from an administrator of a hospital or long-term care facility is needed for this.

An Administrator is the administrative head of a long-term care or residential care facility.

A Designated Bearer is anyone you choose to pick up or deliver your official ballot.

By the close of business the day before the election

Mentions “Administrator” here. Can we define?

For more information on Designated Bearer, visit the Absentee Voting page.

By the close of the business day before the election.

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

- You will be unavoidably absent from your polling site on election day, OR

- You will be unable to attend your polling site on election day due to illness or physical disability, OR

- You are a member of the Uniformed Services, merchant marines or the spouse or a dependant family member and are away from your polling location due to the member’s active duty status, OR

- You are a U.S. citizen whose residence is in Arkansas but is temporarily living outside the territorial limits of the United States.

Option 1: Request to have an absentee ballot application sent to you by contacting your county clerk in the county where you are registered to vote.

Option 2: Download and complete an absentee ballot application, then return this application to the county clerk in the county where you are registered to vote.
www.sos.arkansas.gov/uploads/elections/Absentee_Ballot_Application_1.pdf

County Clerk Contact Information

How to Complete the Absentee Ballot Application
www.sos.arkansas.gov/uploads/elections/How_to_Complete_the_Absentee_Ballot_Application_-_Rev._10-2020_.pdf

Please contact your county clerk with any questions about voting absentee in your county.
www.sos.arkansas.gov/uploads/elections/County_Clerk_Contact_List_-_Rev._8-19-2020_.pdf

Example: “I’ve been transferred, and most of the instructions refer to my legal voting residence and my county of residence.”

For voting purposes, your residence can be either the place you last resided before entering service, or it can be your new legal residence. Military and family members may change their legal residence each time they change permanent duty stations, or they may choose to retain their original residence. A valid street address - even your former address - is required to be sure you are voting in the correct precinct. P.O. Boxes are not allowed. Consult a legal officer before changing residence, because other factors besides voting must be considered.

Family members follow the same procedures as military personnel. Please visit fvap.gov for more information.

Contact your county clerk. If you have access to a computer, email the Elections Division of the Arkansas Secretary of State at: electionsemail@sos.arkansas.gov. If you are a military or overseas citizen, you may also visit the website of the Federal Voting Assistance Program at (www.fvap.gov), which provides information for servicemen and women overseas. The FVAP also helps all military personnel with access to a DSN phone. Dial toll-free DSN 425-1584.

Election Systems and Software was chosen as the vendor for voting equipment across Arkansas. Every county in the state is using one integrated voting system.

A provisional ballot is one that is cast during certain circumstances when there is some question concerning a voter’s eligibility. Whether or not the ballot will be counted is based on the voter’s eligibility, which is determined at a later date after the election. This is also referred to as “fail-safe voting.”

Example: “I recently decided to register to vote for the first time, so I filled out a voter registration application at a booth at the county fair. It was a little more than a month before the next election. When I went to the polls to vote, I was told that I was not registered.”

If you are not registered to vote, you may still vote on a provisional ballot. You are not legally registered until the county clerk records your registration. Arkansas law requires organizers of voter registration drives to submit those applications within 21 days of the drive or no later than 30 days prior to an election. If they did not do so, you would not be eligible to vote in that election. However, you may cast what is called a provisional ballot. Check with your county clerk to see if your application has been received and is complete so that you can vote in the next election.

Example: “My husband and I are retired. We spend winters at home in south Arkansas and summers in the mountains in Colorado.”

This is a decision you will have to make, but you must choose only one voting location. In general, your residence is where your family lives, where you physically reside, the place you intend to return to live, where your driver’s license says you live, where you claim your homeowner’s property tax exemption, etc. Many factors affect residency.

Students may be considered to be residents of the place where they lived prior to becoming a student. However, a student may also have the intent to be a resident of the new place and be registered there. Of course, a student may not be registered and vote in more than one place.

Yes, anyone may distribute these applications. Applications for Absentee Ballots are available from your local county clerk.

Yes, anyone may distribute voter registration applications. Applications are available from the Secretary of State; applications collected during a voter registration drive must be returned to the Secretary of State or the local county clerk within 21 days after the date on the application or no later than 30 days prior to the next election.

Simply complete the name change portion of the voter registration application and submit it to your county clerk’s office.

In Arkansas, moving across county lines requires transferring the registration to the new county. Be sure to submit your updated registration to the county clerk in your new county no later than four days before a scheduled election so you can vote there. If your application arrives less than four days before an election, you will not be eligible to vote in your new county for that election.

Example: “I live in one county but work in another. I would like to vote in the county where I work because I am more involved in that community. “

No, Arkansas law requires you to register in the county where you reside.

No, submitting your voter application at a state agency, in a voter registration drive, or through the U.S. Postal Service does NOT guarantee your registration. You should follow up on the status of your registration just as you would on any other personal business matter. Before considering yourself a registered voter, you must receive an acknowledgment of your registration from the county clerk.

Unfortunately, each Election Day, many would-be first-time voters in Arkansas do not have their votes counted because they are not actually registered to vote. Many believed they had registered months before, but failed to follow up when they did not receive a voter ID card from their county clerk. The process of voter registration is convenient, but it also places responsibility on the registrant to ensure the process is completed.

Follow up with your county clerk concerning your Voter Registration before election time.

Dissolution is the process of dissolving a business. Entities that decide to “go out of business” must formally dissolve by filing articles of dissolution/certificate of dissolution available here: https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/business-commercial-services-bcs. (A.C.A. 4-27-1401)

Yes, the Visitor Center offers self-guided tour books or you may choose to view them on your mobile device: www.sos.arkansas.gov/state-capitol/state-capitol-tour-information.

The young voter workshop is a day long workshop that stresses the importance of voting and understanding the voting process. Unfortunately the workshop is only for high school students, we do have sections of the workshop that are not suitable for younger students. We do offer other programs and presentations about voting for our youngest voters.