Committee approves bill letting county election boards close underused polling places after local review

Representative Rye presented House Bill 1306, a local-government amendment that would allow county election boards and county courts to consolidate or close underused polling places and to establish vote centers (ensuring at least one voting site per town). Rye said the change is designed to avoid forcing counties to staff and maintain polling sites that aren't being used and that the bill's language came from the state board of election commissioners.

Senator Flowers objected that consolidating sites could harm rural and elderly voters who lack reliable transportation and that partisan control of county election commissions could be used to reduce access for certain voters. She asked whether local action to reduce polling locations would require a unanimous vote of a three-member election commission; Senator Ingram said, and Chris Vollins of the Association of Arkansas Counties confirmed, that the local election commission process has required unanimity in examples discussed, but the sponsor agreed to obtain and provide a definitive answer before floor action.

John Wilkerson of the Arkansas Municipal League and Vollins said the bill does not give cities authority to unilaterally close polling places; it leaves decisions to county election boards and the court and was intended to reflect existing vote-center practices supported by upgraded voting equipment. Pulaski County poll worker Barry Hawes testified for informational purposes and urged the committee to check whether a statutory guidance (he cited a 3,000-eligible-voter threshold) could create a conflict if a single vote center served a city of 5,000 residents.

Committee members pressed sponsors for details on notice, public hearings and how consolidation decisions would protect access; Representative Rye pledged to provide answers on the unanimity question and any statutory-capacity limits before the bill moves to the floor. The committee took a voice vote and the chair declared the bill passed in committee. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript for this vote.

The committee asked that the sponsor provide written clarifications on (1) whether an election commission's change requires a unanimous vote or a simple majority under law, (2) statutory or administrative limits on eligible voters per polling place, and (3) how counties would address transportation and access for elderly or disabled voters before the bill reaches the full Senate.