Senate committee approves bill to fix Arkansas primaries on March, adds school elections

Sen. Jonathan Hester told the Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee on Oct. 27 that Senate Bill 353 would set Arkansas primaries on a single date in March for both presidential and non‑presidential years and adds school elections to the statute to ensure consistency.

Hester said the goal of the bill is to remove the current inconsistency — March primaries in presidential years and May primaries in nonpresidential years — and that “consistency helps” and may aid turnout. Lindsey French of the Association of County Clerks testified she and county clerks “do support the consistency.”

The committee adopted an amendment to include school elections and then passed the bill as amended by voice vote. The amendment was described to the committee as ensuring the bill’s changes apply to statewide and school elections so dates align across jurisdictions.

French told the panel counties had asked for a separate provision to give county election commissions authority to reduce polling places to a single site when severe inclement weather threatens early voting schedules; Hester said he expects to file a separate bill to address the operational definition and authority for responding to severe weather.

Committee members asked whether moving all primaries into March could raise winter weather risks. Hester and supporters said that scheduling in March historically yields higher primary turnout in Arkansas and would create uniformity across election types; they noted separate legislation would address voting‑day operational changes tied to weather.

The committee recorded no roll‑call tally; the panel approved both the amendment and the bill by voice vote.