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Committee approves bill clarifying who may designate early‑voting locations in county seat
Summary
The committee passed a bill that clarifies county clerks must designate their county‑seat early‑voting location while county election boards may approve additional sites by unanimous vote; the change responds to recent litigation and local practice.
Little Rock — The House committee passed Senate Bill 296, a bill that clarifies how counties designate early‑voting locations. The measure requires the county clerk’s designated early‑voting location to be within the county seat; additional early‑voting locations elsewhere in the county may be designated by unanimous vote of the county board of election commissioners.
Chris Madison, director of the State Board of Election Commissioners, told the committee the change mirrors language already used for dual‑county‑seat counties and was prompted by litigation in Crittenden County about whether a clerk could designate a location outside the county seat. Madison said the bill makes the law consistent with how most counties operate and avoids having additional early‑voting locations automatically locked in from one cycle to the next without a positive board vote.
Representative Howard Beatty (sponsor) moved the bill; the committee approved the motion to pass. Committee members said the wording will give county boards flexibility to add sites while keeping the primary clerk‑designated site in the county seat.
