Arkansas

Lawsuit challenges Arkansas voter registration rules

Published

7 months ago

June 8, 2024

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.

“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.

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.

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

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Arkansas

Promotional campaign featuring Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green cost Central Arkansas Library System over $50,000 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

42 minutes ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

Promotional campaign featuring Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green cost Central Arkansas Library System over ,000 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The Central Arkansas Library System spent over $50,000 on a recent promotional campaign featuring University of Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green.

The campaign’s elements included a photo shoot, an in-person signing event with Green in November and digital advertising.

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Arkansas

Shooting concerns reappear for Arkansas basketball after stinging loss to Tennessee

Published

8 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

Shooting concerns reappear for Arkansas basketball after stinging loss to Tennessee

A brilliant stretch of offense to close the nonconference schedule had Arkansas basketball feeling optimistic about the roster’s overall shooting. Entering the SEC opener against No. 1 Tennessee, the Razorbacks ranked fourth nationally in field-goal percentage (50.8%) while hitting 3-pointers at a 36.8% rate.

But preseason concerns appeared to be justified Saturday. The Hogs (11-3, 0-1 SEC) shot a season-low 37.7% from the floor against the Volunteers (14-0, 1-0), going 6 for 29 on 3-pointers and, even worse, 6 for 13 at the free-throw line.

Add it all up, and Arkansas got run out the gym in a 76-52 loss that represented the worst offensive performance of the year.

“Look, you don’t have to make all your 3s, but you can’t miss them all,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said. “You can’t miss 10 in-a-row, or you’re not going to win.”

DJ Wagner and Karter Knox hit on the first two attempts from downtown, but Arkansas then proceeded to miss 19 of its next 21 3-pointers. That drought coincided with a dominant Tennessee run that stretched the lead to double figures, and the Vols led 42-27 at halftime.

The offensive malaise wasn’t a total surprise. Tennessee leads the country in 3-point defense and is second in scoring defense, but it was a giant step back. Arkansas had scored at least 80 points in four straight games.

Boogie Fland and Johnell Davis represented Arkansas’ biggest disappointments from behind the arc. That duo combined to go 2 for 12, with Davis missing all four of his attempts. Davis had missed the Hogs’ previous two games with a wrist injury.

The Razorbacks’ leading 3-point shooter on the season is 7-foot-2 big man Zvonimir Ivisic, who entered Saturday 20 of 44. He went 1 for 2 against Tennessee, but he continues to struggle on the defensive end and has seen his minutes dramatically decrease in recent weeks.

Calipari needs to find a way to keep Ivisic on the floor. His impact stretching opposing defenses is too valuable. The Hogs play most possessions with at least two players who aren’t threats from the outside.

After the game, Calipari said the bad shooting numbers weren’t a product of poor offense. He thought his team generated quality looks, but the shots just would not fall.

However, he didn’t like how the misses negatively affected the Razorbacks in other dimensions.

“If we created a good look, and we miss some of them, I looked at them and said, ‘Guys, you’re not going to make every shot. Just keep playing. Fight.’ You’ve got to learn to fight when you’re not playing well. So this was a great learning experience for this team,” he said.

There are other, more important factors that played into the blowout loss.

Tennessee won the rebounding margin 51-29 and got 29 points from Chaz Lanier. Zakai Zeigler won the battle of New York City point guards against Boogie Fland, and Arkansas couldn’t have asked for a more difficult start to the conference schedule than a road game against the top-ranked team in the country.

Arkansas now has three days to regroup before a home game against No. 23 Ole Miss.

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Arkansas

Miss Arkansas wins Miss America’s Teen 2025; Miss Alabama is first runner-up

Published

17 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Miss Arkansas wins Miss America’s Teen 2025; Miss Alabama is first runner-up

Peyton Bolling was crowned Miss America’s Teen 2025 on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida.

Bolling, who competed as Miss Arkansas’ Teen, is from Rogers and attends Bentonville High School. She performed a jazz dance in the pageant’s talent competition on Saturday. The teen pageant — which includes talent, evening gown and on-stage question segments — is part of the Miss America organization.

Along with the title of Miss America’s Teen, Bolling will receive $50,000 in scholarship money and a yearlong reign, according to the Miss America organization. During her year as Miss America’s Teen, Bolling will travel across the country and use her platform to raise awareness about her philanthropic effort, known as Simple Acts of Citizenship. She’ll also serve as a role model for young girls and a brand ambassador for the Miss America’s Teen program.

Ali Mims, Miss Alabama’s Teen, was named first-runner up for Miss America’s Teen on Saturday and earned $10,000 in scholarship money. Mims, from Harpersville, was featured throughout the finals event and performed a soprano aria during the talent competition, singing “O Mio Babbino Caro” (“Oh, my Dear Papa”) from Giacomo Puccini’s 1918 opera “Gianni Schicchi.”

Also, Mims was one of three winners in Tuesday’s evening gown preliminary for Miss America’s Teen, earning a $3,000 scholarship.

Mims is a student at Chelsea High School. Her philanthropic platform for Miss Alabama’s Teen is the Joyful Noise Foundation: Music Education for the Special Needs Community, It raises money to put musical instruments in special needs classes.

Ali Mims of Harpersville, Alabama, was named first runner-up for Miss America’s Teen on Jan. 4, 2025, in Orlando Florida. Mims competed as Miss Alabama’s Teen in the national pageant.(Courtesy of Miss America IP LLC)

A total of 51 teens were in the running for 2025, competing in preliminary events this week and the finals on Saturday at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando. All had previously been crowned at pageants in their home states or Puerto Rico.

Aside from Bolling and Mims, the top five finalists were:

Brooke Bumgarner, Miss Mississippi’s Teen 2024 (second-runner up)
Abigail Mignucci, Miss New Jersey’s Teen 2024 (third runner-up)
Macie Krause, Miss Texas’ Teen 2024 (fourth runner-up)

As runners-up, Bumgarner, Mignucci and Krause each earned $10,000 in scholarship money, according to the Miss America organization. The finals were livestreamed on the Miss America YouTube channel and PageantVision.com.

The top 11 contestants for Miss America’s Teen were: