Arkansas Supreme Court allows county clerk to designate West Memphis early‑voting site, narrows board duties

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Oct. 17, 2024, ruled that the Crittenden County clerk had authority under Ark. Code Ann. § 7‑5‑418(a)(1)(A) to designate the Seventh Street Church of Christ in West Memphis as an early‑voting location for the 2024 general election, and it modified a circuit court writ of mandamus to limit the county board’s obligation to its statutory duties; the court also reversed the lower court on a cross‑appeal and held that the First Baptist Church in West Memphis remains an early‑voting polling site established in 2022 unless the county board changes it by order. The dispute arose after the three‑member Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners failed to unanimously approve a proposed West Memphis library site, voted unanimously to establish an early‑voting site at the Marion Arena, and then made no further unanimous change for West Memphis. Commissioner James Pulliaum voted against the library, citing limited parking and space and possible electioneering; Commissioners Frank Barton and Anita Bell voted in favor, producing a 2–1 vote that, because statute requires unanimity for the board to establish additional early‑voting sites, the board treated as ineffective for the West Memphis location. County Clerk Paula Brown wrote on Sept. 5, 2024, designating the Seventh Street Church of Christ as the clerk’s early‑voting location and asking the board to select poll workers. The circuit court ordered the board to conduct early voting at the Church of Christ “in the same or substantially the same manner” as early voting had been conducted at First Baptist Church in 2022 and to comply with specified Arkansas election statutes. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s conclusion that the clerk had authority under § 7‑5‑418(a)(1)(A) to designate an early‑voting site outside the clerk’s office, rejecting the board’s argument that the clerk’s designation is limited to the county courthouse or county seat. The court explained that the plain language of § 7‑5‑418(a)(1)(A) grants the clerk authority to designate a “clerk’s designated early voting location” beginning 15 days before a general election and that this language contains no restriction limiting the clerk to the courthouse. The court modified the writ of mandamus, however, to clarify that the board must comply only with those statutory duties that the code assigns to the board with respect to early voting conducted by the clerk, and it declined to compel the board to perform duties that the statute assigns to the clerk. On the cross‑appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the circuit court’s refusal to order the First Baptist Church to remain an early‑voting site. The majority held that, under Ark. Code Ann. § 7‑5‑101(d)(1) (which states that polling sites for each election are the same as those established for the immediately preceding general election unless changed by order of the county board), the First Baptist Church — which the board had established as an early‑voting location in 2022 — remains a polling site for the 2024 general election unless the board votes to change it. The opinion reasoned that § 7‑5‑418(b)(1)(A), which permits the board to decide to hold early voting at additional polling sites outside the clerk’s office by unanimous vote, does not render § 7‑5‑101(d)(1) inapplicable; rather, those provisions can be harmonized so that additional early‑voting sites established by the board continue to be treated as polling sites for subsequent general elections unless the board later changes them by order. The court noted legislative changes to § 7‑5‑418 in 2003 that replaced the old phrase “county clerk’s office” with “clerk’s designated early voting location,” and the majority relied on that change to support a broader reading of clerk authority. The opinion also cited other election statutes — including Ark. Code Ann. §§ 7‑5‑211; 7‑4‑109; 7‑5‑202; 7‑5‑416; 7‑5‑413; and 7‑4‑107 — in directing compliance with applicable law. The Supreme Court issued the mandate immediately. Three justices — Rhonda K. Wood, Shawn A. Womack and Justice Webb — concurred in part and dissented in part; Justice Wood’s separate opinion agreed the clerk could select an off‑site location but reached that result by relying on § 7‑5‑418(b)(3)(B) and the board’s unanimous selection of the Marion Arena, and both Wood and Womack elaborated on statutory distinctions between “polling site” and “early‑voting location” and disagreed with the majority’s cross‑appeal holding. Trial testimony and evidence introduced in the circuit court included video of the August 23 and September 3, 2024 board meetings and testimony from Pulliaum, Paula Brown and Barton describing the votes, the clerk’s designation letter, concerns about accessibility at the Marion courthouse (basement elevator flood risk), and the board chair’s initial decision that there would be no early voting in West Memphis after the non‑unanimous vote. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s legal finding that the clerk had authority to designate the Church of Christ, but it narrowed the lower court’s writ to avoid ordering the board to perform the clerk’s statutory duties; it reversed the circuit court on the cross‑appeal and held the First Baptist Church remains an established polling site for 2024 unless the board changes it by order.