Arkansas

State board approves rule barring use of electronic signatures on voter registration forms, sends it to legislative subcommittee | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

2 years ago

July 15, 2024

State board approves rule barring use of electronic signatures on voter registration forms, sends it to legislative subcommittee | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The State Board of Election Commissioners approved a rule Monday that bars election officials from accepting voter registration forms signed with an electronic signature.

The rule was approved without any audible opposition from the seven-member board and will next go before the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Administrative Rules subcommittee Aug. 22.

Under the rule, voters would have to sign registration forms with a pen, also known as a “wet signature.”

Opponents of the measure have criticized it as undemocratic, arguing it would hinder Arkansans’ ability to vote. In June, nonprofit organization Get Loud Arkansas filed a lawsuit against the state in federal court, saying the ban on electronic signatures on voter registration forms violates portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The organization filed an injunction Thursday in the case seeking to bar the election officials from enforcing an emergency version of the rule that is already in place and is set to expire Sept. 1.

Chris Madison, director of the State Board of Election Commissioners, has said the rule is meant to provide clarity to Arkansas’ 75 county clerks to help them to follow a single policy. In previous elections, some county clerks have accepted electronically signed voter registration applications while others have not, he said. According to Madison, Amendment 51 of the Constitution, which established the state’s voter registration system, allows only certain state agencies — the Office of Driver Services and public assistance and state-funded disability programs — to accept electronic signatures.

Monday’s vote follows a 30-day public comment period that began June 14 and ended Sunday. The board was required to receive public comment as part of the process to make permanent an emergency version of the rule, which was approved by lawmakers in early May.

In a packed conference room during Thursday’s public hearing, the 16 speakers who commented on the proposed voter rule all spoke against the measure. The state Board of Election Commissioners said in a memo dated Monday to Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston that the body received more than 200 written comments on the measure, although an accompanying table summarizing the feedback lists only 194 comments. Of those, 186 were against the rule, while eight wrote in its favor.

The memo includes responses to several recurring arguments made in the comments, which were separated into five categories: in favor of online-voter registration systems; wet signature is outdated; e-signature is allowed by law; low voter registration and turn-out rates; and “other.” The last category includes access to voter registration for voters with disabilities; access to printing facilities or postal services; confusion for officials; and that the rule is disenfranchising voters.

Many commenters who expressed favor of online-voter registration systems said that 42 other states permit online registration.

Members of the public who said electronic signatures are allowed by law also argued that, if electronic signatures are allowed on important individual transactions — such as taxes and contracts — they should be permissible when registering to vote. The board said in its response that the secretary of state’s office does not have the authority to create an online registration system and that, while bills proposed during the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions would have given the authority to do so, both failed before they could become law.

With regard to opponents’ claims the rule would disenfranchise voters, the board reiterated its statement that current law doesn’t allow for the creation of an online voter registration process, and “a third-party organization operating outside the governmental system cannot circumvent the law to create its own online voter registration system.”

INJUNCTION MOTION

Get Loud Arkansas, along with other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Secretary of State John Thurston and members of the State Board of Election Commissioners, filed a motion for a preliminary injunction Thursday to prevent the defendants from enforcing the emergency rule requiring wet signatures. The group also seeks to block the state from enforcing “any requirement” that similarly demands voter registration applications be signed with a wet signature. As in their initial complaint, plaintiffs state the requirement violates portions of the Civil Rights Act.

In addition to Get Loud Arkansas, plaintiffs include Vote.org, a group seeking to increase voter registration nationwide, and two Arkansans who had their registration rejected under the emergency rule scrutinizing signatures: Nikki Pastor and Blake Loper.

A 34-page brief filed in support of the injunction makes four primary arguments against the wet signature requirement. The brief states the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits state officials from rejecting voter registration applications for errors that are immaterial in determining a person’s qualifications to vote,” that “plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the wet signature rule violates the materiality provision of the Civil Rights Act, that “(a)bsent relief, Plaintiffs will face continued and ongoing irreparable harm because of the wet signature rule” and that “the remaining equitable factors strongly favor granting a preliminary injunction.”

The emergency rule came after Get Loud Arkansas helped register voters with electronic signatures. Volunteers with the group created an online tool that allows Arkansans to fill out a voter registration application online and sign electronically, according to the complaint filed in the lawsuit. The volunteers would then print the finished forms with the registrant’s permission and submit them to county clerks.

In a letter sent to county clerks in February, however, Secretary of State John Thurston advised against the use of electronic signatures, saying, “I strongly recommend that counties do not accept voter registration applications executed by electronic signature.” The lawsuit alleges that Thurston’s letter came in direct response to a Feb. 26 Arkansas Times article about the success of the group’s voter registration drive.

The lawsuit is ongoing.

Speaking after Monday’s board meeting, Madison defended the emergency rule and the proposed permanent version, citing its use in confirming the identity of a purported voter. He cited a case in south Arkansas in which a man forged roughly 140 absentee ballot applications, voter registration forms and other statements for the 2022 primary election.

“When he got caught, it was the signatures,” Madison said.

Source link

Arkansas

#24 Arkansas Explodes for Eight Runs in Eighth to Race past Missouri State in Midweek Rematch

Published

6 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

#24 Arkansas Explodes for Eight Runs in Eighth to Race past Missouri State in Midweek Rematch

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 24 Arkansas (27-15) used an eight-run eighth inning, punctuated by home runs from Ryder Helfrick and TJ Pompey, to race past Missouri State (26-12) in a 12-4 win Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With their win in the rematch against the Bears, the Razorbacks improved to 9-2 in midweek games, including a 7-1 mark in midweek matchups at home, this season. Arkansas will conclude its midweek slate next week with a double midweek series against Northwestern State from April 28-29 inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium.

Entering the bottom of the eighth tied at four, the Hogs exploded for eight runs on seven hits, including four extra-base hits, to blow the game open. Carter Rutenbar’s go-ahead two-run single through the right side put Arkansas up 6-4 and set the table for Camden Kozeal’s RBI double, Helfrick’s three-run blast and Pompey’s two-run shot later in the frame.

When the bottom of the eighth was all said and done, the Razorbacks had opened a commanding 12-4 lead after they were shut out through the game’s first five innings. Kozeal finished the night 3-for-5 with a double, home run and two RBI to lead Arkansas offensively and raise his season slash line to .305/.394/.604 with 11 homers and a team-high 48 RBI.

Helfrick, meanwhile, swatted his team-leading 14th home run in Tuesday night’s win against the Bears. The Razorbacks’ superstar catcher is now slashing .293/.430/.626 with 14 homers and 40 RBI through his 41 games played this season.

In addition to Kozeal, Nolan Souza (3-for-5), Reese Robinett (2-for-5, 2B) and Kuhio Aloy (2-for-4, RB) logged multi-hit games. Along with Helfrick and Kozeal, Rutenbar (1-for-4, 2 RBI) and Pompey (1-for-1, HR, RBI) tallied multiple RBI.

On the mound, Tate McGuire made his third start of the season for Arkansas and worked 3.2 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts. In relief, Colin Fisher (3.1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 SO), Steele Eaves (0.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO), Parker Coil (0.2 IP) and Cooper Dossett (1.0 IP, 2 SO) combined for 5.1 innings of two-run ball (one earned) with eight strikeouts to seal the win.

Up next, the Hogs will hit the road for an SEC weekend series from April 23-25 in Columbia, Mo. First pitch in the series opener between Arkansas and Missouri (20-21) is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, on SEC Network.

For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).

Source link

Arkansas

Effort to cut former Arkansas corrections secretary’s position as adviser to governor fails – Arkansas Times

Published

18 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Effort to cut former Arkansas corrections secretary’s position as adviser to governor fails – Arkansas Times

A legislative panel rejected a proposal Tuesday that would have eliminated former Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri’s job as an adviser to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

A top lawmaker also suggested that Profiri may return to his job overseeing the state prison system, two years after he was fired by the state Board of Corrections as part of a dispute with Sanders.

The proposal rejected by the Joint Budget Committee’s personnel subcommittee would have written into the appropriation for Sanders’ office language eliminating Profiri’s position from the Republican governor’s staff. Subcommittee members voted 9-6 against the amendment, with Rep. Lane Jean not casting a vote.

Republican Sen. Terry Rice introduced the proposal last week, a little over six months after Profiri didn’t appear at a hearing on the now-stalled Franklin County prison project before a committee that Rice co-chairs.

Rice called this a “major trust-breaker.”

“The Board of Corrections members asked Mr. Profiri to share his intended plans as secretary, and they would work with him. He ignored multiple attempts,” Rice said. “I was told during that meeting, he was in the Capitol, had been seen in the hall at the same time. He didn’t even reply and chose to snub legislators’ questions.”

Profiri was fired by the Arkansas Board of Corrections as the leader of the state’s prison agency in 2024, following months of increasing tensions between the constitutionally-independent board and Sanders over opening new beds when the Department of Corrections already struggled to find sufficient staffing. Those tensions eventually resulted in lawsuits, which are still unresolved, and Profiri’s firing.

After he was fired, the Republican governor hired Profiri as a senior advisor, making him the highest paid staffer in her office. Profiri is paid $183,699.98 a year, according to the Arkansas transparency portal.

Jean, a Republican from Magnolia who co-chairs the Joint Budget Committee, asked Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson and Board of Corrections member Lee Watson “what the timeline was” for Sanders to rehire Profiri as corrections secretary, pointing to the new makeup of the board.

“I don’t think there’s any objection to the board, or certainly a majority of the board, to hire him (again). What are we waiting on?” Jean asked.

“What I can say is Secretary (Lindsay) Wallace, she is the secretary, and she will continue as secretary until the governor decides she’s not secretary,” Hudson said. “In the interim, (Profiri) continues to do his job as an adviser to the governor.”

The ongoing lawsuit between the Board of Corrections and Sanders centers on who has the authority to fire the corrections secretary. A Pulaski County Circuit Court judge ruled last year that the board does. Sanders appealed the ruling.

The board’s new Sanders-appointed majority voted to accept a settlement agreement accepting her position that she is the one with firing authority earlier this month, though the lower court order remains in force until the Arkansas Supreme Court rules on the matter.

Sam Dubke, Sanders’ spokesperson, referred the Advocate to Hudson’s remarks when asked for comment on whether Profiri would be rehired as corrections secretary.

Source link

Arkansas

TST Images: Tulsa Drillers defeat the Arkansas Travelers, 11-3, in Tulsa

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

TST Images: Tulsa Drillers defeat the Arkansas Travelers, 11-3, in Tulsa

TULSA, Okla –The Tulsa Drillers defeat the Arkansas Travelers, 11-3, on April 19, 2026 at ONEOK Field and The Sporting Tribune’s Robert Sloter was there to capture the following TST Images.

Luke Fox #15 of the Tulsa Drillers throws a pitch during a game against the Arkansas Travelers at ONEOK Field on April 19, 2026 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.