Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1513 3
4
By: Representatives McCollum, Wing, Achor, Andrews, Barker, Beaty Jr., Beck, Bentley, M. Berry, 5
Breaux, Brooks, K. Brown, M. Brown, Burkes, Joey Carr, C. Cooper, Cozart, Evans, C. Fite, L. Fite, 6
Fortner, Furman, Gazaway, Gonzales, Gramlich, Haak, Hawk, Hollowell, Jean, Ladyman, Long, 7
Lundstrum, Lynch, McAlindon, McClure, M. McElroy, McGrew, B. McKenzie, McNair, S. Meeks, 8
Miller, Milligan, K. Moore, Painter, Pearce, Pilkington, Puryear, R. Scott Richardson, Richmond, Rose, 9
Rye, Schulz, Steimel, Tosh, Underwood, Unger, Vaught, Womack, Wooldridge, Wooten 10
By: Senators J. Petty, K. Hammer, Dees, M. McKee, Stone 11
12
For An Act To Be Entitled 13
AN ACT TO CREATE THE ELECTION INTEGRITY U NIT WITHIN 14
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 'S OFFICE; TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF 15
THE STATE BOARD OF E LECTION COMMISSIONER S; TO AMEND 16
THE LAW CONCERNING V IOLATIONS OF ELECTIO N LAW; AND 17
FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 18
19
20
Subtitle 21
TO CREATE THE ELECTION INTEGRITY WITHIN 22
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE; TO AMEND 23
THE DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTION 24
COMMISSIONERS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW 25
CONCERNING VIOLATIONS OF ELECTION LAW. 26
27
28
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 29
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 7 -1-109 is amended to read as follows: 31
7-1-109. Enforcement of election laws. 32
(a) Following a written complaint concerning any election law 33
violation or irregularity to the county board of election commissioners, the 34
written complaint shall be sent by the county board of election commissioners 35
to the State Board of Election Commissioners and the Election Integrity Unit 36 HB1513
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for evaluation and investigation. 1
(b) A complaint submitted under subsection (a) of this section shall 2
be included by the unit in the Arkansas Election Integrity Database. 3
4
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -4-120(b)(7), concerning complaints of 5
election law violations, is amended to read as follows: 6
(7)(A) If a complaint is filed as required by this section, the 7
State Board of Election Commissioners shall investigate the alleged violation 8
and notify the Election Integrity Unit to enter the complaint into the 9
Arkansas Election Integrity Database . 10
(B) If at the conclusion of the investigation, the State 11
Board of Election Commissioners find that there is probable cause to believe 12
there has been a criminal violation of the voter registration laws or 13
election laws, the State Board of Election Commissioners may forward the 14
complaint to the prosecuting attorney for criminal prosecution. 15
(C) Immediately upon beginning an investigation under this 16
section, the State Board of Election Commissioners shall notify the person or 17
persons under investigation of the fact of the investigation and the nature 18
of the investigation. 19
(C)(D) If at the conclusion of the investigation, the 20
State Board of Election Commissioners finds that there is probable cause to 21
believe there has been a violation of the voter registration laws or election 22
laws, and the complaint has no t been referred to the prosecuting attorney, 23
the State Board of Election Commissioners may set a public hearing. 24
25
SECTION 3. Arkansas Code Title 7, Chapter 4, is amended to add an 26
additional subchapter to read as follows: 27
Subchapter 3 — Election Integrity Unit 28
29
7-4-301. Title. 30
This subchapter shall be known and cited as the “Election Integrity 31
Unit Act of 2023”. 32
33
7-4-302. Election Integrity Unit. 34
(a) There is created within the Attorney General's Office the Election 35
Integrity Unit. 36 HB1513
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(b) The purpose of the Election Integrity Unit is to aid the Secretary 1
of State and the State Board of Election Commissioners in the completion of 2
their duties related to the investigation of election crimes and the security 3
of elections. 4
(c) The director of the Election Integrity Unit shall be known as the 5
“Director of the Election Integrity Unit” and shall be appointed by the 6
Attorney General. 7
(d) The Attorney General may also appoint staff to ensure the 8
efficient operation of the Election Integrity Unit, incl uding without 9
limitation: 10
(1) Assistants; 11
(2) Nonsworn investigators; 12
(3) Professional staff; and 13
(4) Clerical staff. 14
(e) The Election Integrity Unit shall be based in Little Rock, 15
Arkansas. 16
17
7-4-303. Definitions. 18
As used in this subchapte r: 19
(1) “Election laws” means the United States Constitution, the 20
Arkansas Constitution, and the statutes, final court decisions of general 21
applicability, and rules of the United States and the State of Arkansas 22
concerning elections conducted by county b oards of election commissioners and 23
the rules promulgated by the State Board of Election Commissioners under § 7 -24
4-101 concerning elections conducted by county boards of election 25
commissioners; and 26
(2) “Voter registration laws” means those laws under th e United 27
States Constitution, the Arkansas Constitution, and the statutes, final court 28
decisions, and rules promulgated by the United States and the State of 29
Arkansas concerning voter registration laws. 30
31
7-4-304. Duties of the Election Integrity Unit. 32
(a) The Election Integrity Unit shall establish the Arkansas Election 33
Integrity Database that shall be maintained by the Election Integrity Unit , 34
with secure access provided to the Secretary of State and the State Board of 35
Election Commissioners. 36 HB1513
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(b) The Election Integrity Unit shall: 1
(1) Track all alleged violations, complaints, and investigations 2
in the Arkansas Election Integrity Database; 3
(2) Oversee the Attorney General’s election law violations 4
hotline pursuant to § 7 -4-306; 5
(3) Respond to notifications or complaints generated by election 6
officials or any other person alleging a violation of voter registration laws 7
or election laws; 8
(4) Refer all notifications of complaints to the State Board of 9
Election Commissioners for investigation o f any potential civil or criminal 10
acts related to a violation of election law and violations concerning 11
election security reported under § 7 -4-120 or this subchapter; 12
(5) Receive sworn statements and issue subpoenas to compel the 13
production of records and other documents pursuant to § 25-16-705; and 14
(6) Enforce the provisions of this subchapter and perform such 15
other functions as may be incidental to the powers and duties set forth in 16
this subchapter. 17
(c) If during the course of an investigation, the State Board of 18
Election Commissioners determines that there may be a criminal violation of 19
voter registration laws or election laws, the findings of the investigation: 20
(1)(A) May be turned over to the appropriate prosecutorial 21
agency for criminal prosecution. 22
(B) A prosecuting attorney having jurisdiction over a 23
violation of voter registration laws or election laws may designate an 24
attorney employed by the Attorney General's office as a special deputy 25
prosecutor to prosecute any charges related to a violation of voter 26
registration laws or election laws or any other charges that may arise from 27
the same factual allegat ions or may be properly joined under state law. 28
(C)(i) Under Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 80, § 20 and 29
§ 16-21-103, only a prosecuting attorney has the duty and authority to 30
commence and prosecute any criminal action under state law. 31
(ii) A special deputy prosecuting attorney's power 32
to prosecute a criminal action under this section is derivative from the 33
prosecuting attorney; and 34
(2) Shall be heard by the State Board of Election Commissioners 35
if the potential violation is a civil violatio n. 36 HB1513
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(d) This subchapter does not limit the jurisdiction of any other state 1
entity empowered by law to investigate, act upon, or dispose of alleged 2
violations of state voter registration and election laws. 3
(e)(1) By January 15 of each year, the Election Integrity Unit shall 4
submit a report of all closed investigations of the previous calendar year to 5
the: 6
(A) Governor; 7
(B) State Board of Election Commissioners; and 8
(C) Joint Performance Review Committee. 9
(2) The report required und er subdivision (e)(1) of this section 10
shall: 11
(A) Provide a summary of information on each closed 12
investigation of an alleged violation of election laws conducted during the 13
prior calendar year; 14
(B) Include the total number of: 15
(i) Complaints received; 16
(ii) Independent investigations initiated; and 17
(iii) Number of complaints referred for criminal 18
prosecution; and 19
(C) The current status of any resulting criminal case. 20
21
7-4-305. Election law violation — Hotline. 22
(a)(1) The Attorney General shall establish and publish procedures to 23
receive complaints concerning violations of election law. 24
(2) The procedures shall include the operation of a toll -free 25
hotline and may include procedures to receive written complaints through th e 26
mail, email, or fax. 27
(3) Knowingly filing a false claim of a violation of election 28
law is a Class A misdemeanor punishable under § 7 -1-103(c). 29
(b)(1) The Attorney General shall report all complaints received 30
through the election law violation hotlin e to the Joint Performance Review 31
Committee in the report required under § 7 -4-304. 32
(2) The report may contain preliminary findings by the State 33
Board of Election Commissioners as to the validity of the complaint if the 34
full investigation is not complet e. 35
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SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 7 -5-202(c)(1)(F)(ii), concerning public 1
notice of elections, is amended to read as follows: 2
(ii) Information about the availability of the 3
Attorney General's election law violation hotline, including without 4
limitation the hotline telephone number of the Attorney General's election 5
law violation hotline established under § 25-16-717 7-4-305; 6
7
SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 25 -16-717 is repealed. 8
25-16-717. Election law violation — Hotline. 9
(a)(1) The Attorney General shall establish and publish procedures to 10
receive complaints concerning violations of election law. 11
(2) The procedures shall include the operation of a toll -free 12
hotline and may include procedures to receive written complaints through the 13
mail, email, or fax. 14
(3) Knowingly filing a false claim of a violation of election 15
law is a Class A misdemeanor punishable under § 7 -1-103(c). 16
(b)(1) The Attorney General shall report all complaints received to 17
the Joint Performance Review Committee within forty -five (45) days following 18
the certified election results of a general election. 19
(2) The report may contain preliminary findings by the Attorney 20
General as to the validity of the complaint. 21
(3) The Joint Performance Review Committee may call a meeting 22
within thirty (30) days of receipt of the report for the purpose of 23
investigating election law violations. 24
(c)(1) If the Attorney General receives a complaint and finds it is 25
likely that a violation of election law has occurred, the Attorney General 26
shall forward the complaint to the Joint Performance Review Committee for 27
preliminary investigation and may forward the complaint to the appropriate 28
prosecuting attorney. 29
(2) The prosecuting attorney may deputize the Attorney General 30
to act on the prosecutin g attorney's behalf if the prosecuting attorney has a 31
conflict of interest in the investigation. 32
(3) If the Attorney General is deputized by the prosecuting 33
attorney, the Attorney General may investigate or prosecute the alleged 34
violation of election la w. 35
36