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Senate committee advances bill to require photo ID for absentee ballots, removing sworn‑statement alternative
Summary
The Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee on a party-line mood heard hours of testimony and passed House Bill 11‑12, which would remove the sworn‑statement substitute for a photo ID on absentee ballots; supporters said it restores voter intent and a uniform standard, opponents said it will disenfranchise elderly, disabled and minority voters.
Representative Lowery presented House Bill 11‑12 to the Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee, saying the bill removes the sworn‑statement alternative to the photo identification requirement for absentee ballots and restores what he described as the intent of Arkansas voters in 2018.
The measure matters because it changes how absentee votes are verified: under current practice, voters without a photo ID can submit a sworn statement to have their provisional or absentee ballot accepted; HB 11‑12 would require a copy of a photo ID instead. Representative Lowery said the 2018 constitutional amendment and earlier statute showed voters preferred a photo‑ID standard and argued signature verification is not uniform across counties.
Opponents, including Indivisible of Little Rock, the…
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