Frequently Asked Questions

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If you are registering to vote by mail:

You must provide either your Arkansas driver’s license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number on your Arkansas Voter Registration Application. If you don’t have either a driver’s license or Social Security number, check the box in #9 on the application.

If you check the box indicating that you do not possess either a driver’s license or Social Security number, you should submit a photocopy of one of the following with your mail-in application:

1. Current and valid photo identification, or

2. A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck that shows your name and address, or

3. Other government documents that show your name and address.

If you do not provide a driver’s license number, a social security number or an identification document that meets the above requirements, you may be required to vote a Provisional Ballot when you vote for the first time.

Voters unable to verify registration when voting in person shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots cast in this manner will be counted if:

1. The voter returns to the county board of election commissioners or the county clerk by 12:00 noon on the Monday following the election and presents a document or identification card meeting the requirements described above, and the county board of election commissioners does not determine that the provisional ballot is invalid and should not be counted based on other grounds. (For more information about casting provisional ballots, see page 19)

A provisional ballot is one that is cast during certain circumstances when there is some question concerning a voter’s eligibility. Whether or not the ballot will be counted is based on the voter’s eligibility, which is determined at a later date after the election. This is also referred to as “fail-safe voting.”

Example: “I recently decided to register to vote for the first time, so I filled out a voter registration application at a booth at the county fair. It was a little more than a month before the next election. When I went to the polls to vote, I was told that I was not registered.”

If you are not registered to vote, you may still vote on a provisional ballot. You are not legally registered until the county clerk records your registration. Arkansas law requires organizers of voter registration drives to submit those applications within 21 days of the drive or no later than 30 days prior to an election. If they did not do so, you would not be eligible to vote in that election. However, you may cast what is called a provisional ballot. Check with your county clerk to see if your application has been received and is complete so that you can vote in the next election.

Frequently Asked Questions

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FAQs:

Locations

Arkansas Secretary of State Executive Office

Business & Commercial Services (BCS)

Arkansas Secretary of State Executive Office

Business & Commercial Services (BCS)

Northwest Arkansas Office