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Lawsuit challenges Arkansas voter registration rules

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Lawsuit challenges Arkansas voter registration rules


A local group is suing over a rule regarding how voter registrations are done in the state.

Get Loud Arkansas created a website allowing people to register to vote online. In April, an Arkansas legislative committee moved to prevent this process from being used, saying applications now need to have a “wet signature.” This means voter applications must be filled out in person and only at certain state agencies. The rule change was approved by the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners a week later.

GLA is suing along with plaintiffs Nickki Pastor and Trinity “Blake” Loper, both 18-year-olds whose voter registrations were rejected since they filled out their paperwork online. The suit is against the commissioner of the State Board of Elections, Secretary of State John Thurston and several county clerks. Get Loud Arkansas says the rule violates the rights of minority voters in a state with consistently low voter turnout.

The suit argus the state’s voting rules are limited and do not require a “wet signature.” In Arkansas, voters only have to be 18, an Arkansas resident and legally registered to vote.

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“Absent constitutional amendment, state and county election officials may not “impose a requirement that falls outside the ambit of article 3, section 1, of the Arkansas Constitution,” the suit says.

Amendment 51 of the Arkansas Constitution also describes the rules for voting procedures

“The mail voter registration application form may only require identifying information, including signature or mark, and other information, including data relating to previous registration by the applicant,” the amendment reads.

The suit says this is broad language.

“Amendment 51 does not state that a signature or mark must be made using a specific method or made with any specific type of ink,” the suit says.

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GLA launched the online voter registration portal in January. They are adamant that this complies with Arkansas law, since the website does not require a signature. They say this is in keeping with other state agencies that also don’t require it.

“And electronic signatures are now a common feature of modern life used for all manner of transactions, from executing large commercial contracts to signing a credit card receipt for a cup of coffee,” the suit says.

They also say the online voter registration tool was created to “encourage civic engagement,” and that making the site required many resources “including staff time and financial resources.”

Get Loud Arkansas’ executive director, former Democratic state Sen. Joyce Elliott, said the secretary of state’s office told the group registrations through the online portal would be accepted. In late February, they say the secretary of state’s office wrote a letter to county clerks telling them not to accept the signatures. Then in March, an attorney for the Association of Arkansas Counties named Lindsey French told county clerks that “current efforts to register voters electronically run afoul of the law.”

GLA says this violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, saying it targets minority voters.

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The office of Secretary of State John Thurston said they have no comment on the lawsuit.



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Arkansas

Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports

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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports





Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports







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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast

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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast


Today’s Locked On Ole Miss Podcast discusses why Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in Saturday’s matchup. This will be the next opportunity to play clean football, and I think they will put it together against the Hogs and Sam Pittman and cut down on the penalties that have been allowing teams to stay in the game.

This matchup is absolutely massive for the Rebels because of what it means in the season as a whole, and Taylen Green against the Ole Miss defense will draw everyone’s eye. People look at the Arkansas stats and assume this is a typical Bobby Petrino team, and that isn’t quite right. John Nabors of Locked On Razorbacks said that if Ole Miss goes up by 14, it is over because this team is not a play-from-behind team.

In our final segment of the day, we give our final thoughts on Ole Miss vs. Arkansas and talk about expectations for Saturday and why everything points to an Ole Miss win, but Ole Miss fans before a trip to Fayetteville have seen this movie before.

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Ole Miss Football Reveals Uniform Combination For Road Game vs. Arkansas

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Ole Miss Football Reveals Uniform Combination For Road Game vs. Arkansas


The No. 19 Ole Miss Rebels have a big test on Saturday when they travel to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, and we now know what uniform combination coach Lane Kiffin’s team will feature on the field.

For the first time in two years, the Rebels will not be wearing a different uniform combination in each of its regular season games. Ole Miss is reusing the uniform it wore earlier in the year at South Carolina, opting to don powder blue helmets, white jerseys with powder blue accents and white pants.

You can view the uniform reveal below, complete with modeling from edge rusher Princely Umanmielen.

Since this is the first year the Rebels have ever used this jersey, they are technically undefeated all-time in this uniform combination after knocking off South Carolina 27-3 in Columbia earlier this year. They hope that good luck follows them to Fayetteville this weekend, a place they have not won since 2008.

The last time Ole Miss reused a uniform combination during the regular season came in 2021, but the last time they did it in a campaign including the postseason was in 2022 when they repeated a uniform in the Texas Bowl against Texas Tech. Assuming this is the Rebels’ only road jersey in this year’s rotation, we should also see a repeat when Ole Miss travels to face Florida later in November.

Kickoff on Saturday between Ole Miss and Arkansas is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT, and the game will be televised on ESPN.





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