Student Voting Project | Arkansas

Voting at School

ID Requirements

First-time voters who register by mail whose identifyingnumbers (either your Arkansas driver's license number or the  last four digits of your Social Securitynumber) have not been verified by the state must provide ID, either by sendinga copy of ID with their registration application, by showing it in person atthe polls, or by sending a copy with their absentee ballot.  (Registering through a voter registrationdrive counts as registering in person.)  If you can't show ID when voting, you'll haveto vote by provisional ballot.  Yourprovisional ballot will be counted unless county officials find thatthere's  reason to believe, other thanyour failure to show ID, that you are not the person who registered.

In addition, all voters are asked to show ID at the polls,but can still vote a regular ballot even if they aren't able to show ID.

For both rules, acceptable forms of ID include a current andvalid photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, governmentcheck, paycheck, or other government document with the voter's name and address.  Student ID with a photo should be accepted, asshould cell phone bills that have your name and address on them.  Online printouts of identification documentswith your name and address will also be accepted.

Registration Requirements

Voters must register at least 30 days before an election,and mail-in forms must be postmarked by that date.

Residency Requirements

In order to have voting residency in Arkansas, your Arkansasaddress must be your "domicile," meaning the fixed place where you live andwhere you intend to return whenever you're absent.  This means that if—at the time of voter registration—you have definite post-graduation plans to return to the place youlived before school, you probably won't be considered avoting resident of your college community under Arkansas law.  Although Arkansas has a law on the books thatsays you're presumed to be a resident of the place you lived before you wentaway to school, a court case from 2002 makes clear that it's unconstitutionalto apply different rules to students, so that law shouldn't be applied againstyou.  In short, you shouldn't have a problem establishing residency in Arkansas as long asyou consider your school address to be your domicile, and you don'tintend to move back home (i.e., to your parents address).

The county clerk has the initial power to deny yourregistration if they find that you aren't a resident. You'll then be able to appeal that denial,within five days of when you're notified of it, to the county board of electioncommissioners. If they decide you're nota resident, you can appeal their decision to the circuit court for your county,within 30 days of the board's decision. In addition, your residency can be challengedby other voters in the county to the county prosecutor, who can then file acourt case to determine your residency or cancel your registration.

At the polling place, your residency can be challenged by apartisan challenger. Onceyou're challenged, you'll have to vote a provisional ballot. Your provisional ballot will be counted ifcounty officials decide after the election that you were registered and votingin the right precinct.

Absentee Requirement

Students who are unavoidably absent from their polling place on Election Day because they're attending school in another location can vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballot applications must be received 7 days before the election if sent by mail or fax. Absentee ballots send by mail must be received by the county clerk's office by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

First-time voters who register by mail whose identifyingnumbers (either your Arkansas driver's license number or the  last four digits of your Social Securitynumber) have not been verified by the state must provide ID, either by sendinga copy of ID with their registration application, by showing it in person atthe polls, or by sending a copy with their absentee ballot. (Registering through a voter registrationdrive counts as registering in person.)  If you can't show ID when voting, you'll haveto vote by provisional ballot.  Yourprovisional ballot will be counted unless county officials find thatthere's  reason to believe, other thanyour failure to show ID, that you are not the person who registered.

In addition, all voters are asked to show ID at the polls,but can still vote a regular ballot even if they aren't able to show ID.

For both rules, acceptable forms of ID include a current andvalid photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, governmentcheck, paycheck, or other government document with the voter's name and address.  Student ID with a photo should be accepted, asshould cell phone bills that have your name and address on them.  Online printouts of identification documentswith your name and address will also be accepted.

Registration Requirements

Voters must register at least 30 days before an election, and mail-in forms must be postmarked by that date.

Residency Requirements

In order to have voting residency in Arkansas, your Arkansas address must be your "domicile," meaning the fixed place where you live and where you intend to return whenever you're absent.  This means that if—at the time of voter registration—you have definite post-graduation plans to return to the place you lived before school, you probably won't be considered a voting resident of your college community under Arkansas law.  Although Arkansas has a law on the books that says you're presumed to be a resident of the place you lived before you went away to school, a court case from 2002 makes clear that it's unconstitutional to apply different rules to students, so that law shouldn't be applied against you.  In short, you shouldn't have a problem establishing residency in Arkansas as long as you consider your school address to be your domicile, and you don't intend to move back home (i.e., to your parents address).

The county clerk has the initial power to deny your registration if they find that you aren't a resident. You'll then be able to appeal that denial, within five days of when you're notified of it, to the county board of election commissioners. If they decide you're not a resident, you can appeal their decision to the circuit court for your county, within 30 days of the board's decision. In addition, your residency can be challenged by other voters in the county to the county prosecutor, who can then file a court case to determine your residency or cancel your registration.

At the polling place, your residency can be challenged by a partisan challenger. Once you're challenged, you'll have to vote a provisional ballot. Your provisional ballot will be counted if county officials decide after the election that you were registered and voting in the right precinct.

Absentee Requirement

Students who are unavoidably absent from their polling placeon Election Day because they're attending school in another location can voteby absentee ballot. Absenteeballot applications must be received 7 days before the election if sent by mailor fax.Absentee ballots send by mail must be received by the county clerk's office by7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

[1] The Arizona Secretary of State's office declined to review this guide, and encourages voters to refer to the Arizona Revised Statutes and the Voter Registration Form instructions for information about the state's voter registration procedures.

[2] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-101(b).

[3] Interview with Arizona Secretary of State's Office (April 16, 2008); Demos Democracy Dispatch #50, Oct. 12, 2004, http://www.demos.org/pubs/Dispatches50.pdf.

[4] McDowell Mountain Ranch Land Coaltion v. Vizcaino, 945 P.2d 312 (Ariz. 1997).

[5] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-121.01.

[6] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-591.

[7] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-592.

[8] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 28-2001(b).

[9] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-134(c).

[10] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-166.

[11] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-579 (a).

[12] Proof of Identification at the Polls, Arizona Secretary of State website, available at http://www.azsos.gov/election/Prop_200/poll_identification.htm.

[13] Id.

[14] Interview with Arizona Secretary of State's Office (April 16, 2008).

[15] Arizona Secretary of State, Election Procedures Manual 127 (Oct. 2007), available at http://www.azsos.gov/election/Electronic%5FVoting%5FSystem/2007/Manual.pdf

[16] Id. at 135.

[17] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-541.

[18] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-542.

[19] ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 16-548.