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Committee approves bill to bar prefilled voter‑registration applications; amendment narrows scope
Summary
Senators approved legislation to prohibit delivery of prefilled voter‑registration applications to applicants, after members asked that the change be narrowed to focus on prefilled party affiliation. The sponsor said recent examples prompted the measure; clerk and county associations supported clarifying rules on assistance versus pre‑filling.
The committee voted to pass Senate Bill 272, a measure that would prohibit delivery of voter registration applications to applicants that contain prefilled information. Senator Kroll, sponsor of SB 272, told the committee the bill responds to examples where canvassers or others handed out stacks of forms with party or county fields already checked.
During discussion members pressed for a targeted fix. Several senators proposed narrowing the language to require only the party‑affiliation field be blank; Senator Tucker and Senator Clark signaled support for that narrower approach. County clerks and the Association of Arkansas Counties, represented by Lindsay French, described actual incidents in which canvassers pre‑marked a political party on stacked forms before distributing them at registration drives. French said the change would not prohibit a registrar from assisting a voter who requests help; existing statutory exceptions for assistance and federal accommodations would remain.
Committee members agreed to pull the bill temporarily so sponsors could work with legislative staff on an amendment to focus on party affiliation. The amendment was later adopted and the committee passed the bill as amended on a voice vote.
Proponents described the bill as aligning voter registration practice with prior clarification the Legislature made for absentee‑ballot applications; opponents cautioned against creating barriers to registration and urged careful drafting to preserve lawful assistance for people with disabilities or other needs.
The committee adopted the amendment to narrow the prohibition to the party‑affiliation field and passed the bill as amended.
