Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
*MLD030* 03-09-2023 09:52:27 MLD030
State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H3/9/23 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
TO CREATE THE ELECTI ON INTEGRITY UNIT WITHIN THE 14
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S O FFICE; TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE 15
STATE BOARD OF ELECT ION COMMISSIONERS; A ND TO AMEND 16
THE LAW CONCERNING V IOLATIONS OF ELECTIO N LAW. 17
18
19
Subtitle 20
TO CREATE THE ELECTION INTEGRITY WITHIN 21
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE; TO AMEND 22
THE DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTION 23
COMMISSIONERS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW 24
CONCERNING VIOLATIONS OF ELECTION LAW. 25
26
27
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 28
29
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 7 -1-109 is amended to read as follows: 30
7-1-109. Enforcement of election laws. 31
(a) Following a written complaint concerning any election law 32
violation or irregularity to the county board of election commissioners, the 33
written complaint shall be sent by the county board of election co mmissioners 34
to the State Board of Election Commissioners and the Election Integrity Unit 35
for evaluation and investigation. 36 As Engrossed: H3/9/23 HB1513
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(b) A complaint submitted under subsection (a) of this section shall 1
be included by the unit in the Arkansas Election Integrity Database. 2
3
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -4-120(b)(7), concerning complaints of 4
election law violations, is amended to read as follows: 5
(7)(A) If a complaint is filed as required by this section, the 6
State Board of Election Commissioners shall investigate the alleged violation 7
and notify the Election Integrity Unit to enter the complaint into the 8
Arkansas Election Integrity D atabase. 9
(B) If at the conclusion of the investigation, the State 10
Board of Election Commissioners find that there is probable cause to believe 11
there has been a criminal violation of the voter registration laws or 12
election laws, the State Board of Election Commissioners may forward the 13
complaint to the prosecuting attorney for criminal prosecution. 14
(C) Immediately upon beginning an investigation under this 15
section, the State Board of Election Commissioners shall notify the person or 16
persons under investigation of the fact of the investigation and the nature 17
of the investigation. 18
(C)(D) If at the conclusion of the investigation, the 19
State Board of Election Commissioners finds that there is probable cause to 20
believe there has been a violation of the voter registration laws or election 21
laws, and the complaint has not been referred to the prosecuting attorney, 22
the State Board of Election Commissioners may set a public hearing. 23
24
SECTION 3. Arkansas Code Title 7, Chapter 4, is amended to add an 25
additional subchapter to read as follows: 26
Subchapter 3 — Election Integrity Unit 27
28
7-4-301. Title. 29
This subchapter shall be known and cited as the “Election Integrity 30
Unit Act of 2023”. 31
32
7-4-302. Election Integrity Unit. 33
(a) There is created within the Attorney General's Office the Election 34
Integrity Unit. 35
(b) The purpose of the Election Integrity Unit is to aid the Secretary 36 As Engrossed: H3/9/23 HB1513
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of State and the State Board of Election Commissioners in the completion of 1
their duties related to the investigation of electi on crimes and the security 2
of elections. 3
(c) The director of the Election Integrity Unit shall be known as the 4
“Director of the Election Integrity Unit” and shall be appointed by the 5
Attorney General. 6
(d) The Attorney General may also appoint staff to ensure the 7
efficient operation of the Election Integrity Unit, including without 8
limitation: 9
(1) Assistants; 10
(2) Nonsworn investigators; 11
(3) Professional staff; and 12
(4) Clerical staff. 13
(e) The Election Integrity Unit shall be based in Little Rock, 14
Arkansas. 15
16
7-4-303. Definitions. 17
As used in this subchapter: 18
(1) “Election laws” means the United States Constitution, the 19
Arkansas Constitution, and the statutes, final court decisions of general 20
applicability, and rules of the United States a nd the State of Arkansas 21
concerning elections conducted by county boards of election commissioners and 22
the rules promulgated by the State Board of Election Commissioners under § 7 -23
4-101 concerning elections conducted by county boards of election 24
commissioners; and 25
(2) “Voter registration laws” means those laws under the United 26
States Constitution, the Arkansas Constitution, and the statutes, final court 27
decisions, and rules promulgated by the United States and the State of 28
Arkansas concerning voter regis tration laws. 29
30
7-4-304. Duties of the Election Integrity Unit. 31
(a) The Election Integrity Unit shall establish the Arkansas Election 32
Integrity Database that shall be maintained by the Election Integrity Unit , 33
with secure access provided to the Secretar y of State and the State Board of 34
Election Commissioners. 35
(b) The Election Integrity Unit shall: 36 As Engrossed: H3/9/23 HB1513
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(1) Track all alleged violations, complaints, and investigations 1
in the Arkansas Election Integrity Database; 2
(2) Oversee the Attorney General’s election law violations 3
hotline pursuant to § 7 -4-306; 4
(3) Respond to notifications or complaints generated by election 5
officials or any other person alleging a violation of voter registration laws 6
or election laws; 7
(4) Refer all notifications of com plaints to the State Board of 8
Election Commissioners for investigation of any potential civil or criminal 9
acts related to a violation of election law and violations concerning 10
election security reported under § 7 -4-120 or this subchapter; 11
(5) Receive sworn statements and issue subpoenas to compel the 12
production of records and other documents pursuant to § 25-16-705; and 13
(6) Enforce the provisions of this subchapter and perform such 14
other functions as may be incidental to the powers and duties set fort h in 15
this subchapter. 16
(c) If during the course of an investigation, the State Board of 17
Election Commissioners determines that there may be a criminal violation of 18
voter registration laws or election laws, the findings of the investigation: 19
(1)(A) May be turned over to the appropriate prosecutorial 20
agency for criminal prosecution. 21
(B) A prosecuting attorney having jurisdiction over a 22
violation of voter registration laws or election laws may designate an 23
attorney employed by the Attorney General's of fice as a special deputy 24
prosecutor to prosecute any charges related to a violation of voter 25
registration laws or election laws or any other charges that may arise from 26
the same factual allegations or may be properly joined under state law. 27
(C)(i) Under Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 80, § 20 and 28
§ 16-21-103, only a prosecuting attorney has the duty and authority to 29
commence and prosecute any criminal action under state law. 30
(ii) A special deputy prosecuting attorney's power 31
to prosecute a criminal action under this section is derivative from the 32
prosecuting attorney; and 33
(2) Shall be heard by the State Board of Election Commissioners 34
if the potential violation is a civil violation. 35
(d) This subchapter does not limit the jurisdiction of any other state 36 As Engrossed: H3/9/23 HB1513
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entity empowered by law to investigate, act upon, or dispose of alleged 1
violations of state voter registration and election laws. 2
(e)(1) By August 1 of each year, the State Board of Election 3
Commissioners shall submit a report of all c losed investigations of the 4
previous calendar year to the: 5
(A) Governor; 6
(B) Attorney General; and 7
(C) Joint Performance Review Committee. 8
(2) The report required under subdivision (e)(1) of this section 9
shall: 10
(A) Provide a summary of information on each closed 11
investigation of an alleged violation of election laws conducted during the 12
prior calendar year; 13
(B) Include the total number of: 14
(i) Complaints received; 15
(ii) Independent investigations i nitiated; and 16
(iii) Number of complaints referred for criminal 17
prosecution; and 18
(C) The current status of any resulting criminal case. 19
20
7-4-305. Election law violation — Hotline. 21
(a)(1) The Attorney General shall establish and publish proc edures to 22
receive complaints concerning violations of election law. 23
(2) The procedures shall include the operation of a toll -free 24
hotline and may include procedures to receive written complaints through the 25
mail, email, or fax. 26
(3) Knowingly filing a false claim of a violation of election 27
law is a Class A misdemeanor punishable under § 7 -1-103(c). 28
(b)(1) The State Board of Election Commissioners shall report all 29
complaints received through the election law violation hotline to the Joint 30
Performance Review Committee in the report required under § 7 -4-304. 31
(2) The report may contain preliminary findings by the State 32
Board of Election Commissioners as to the validity of the complaint if the 33
full investigation is not complete. 34
35
SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 7-5-202(c)(1)(F)(ii), concerning public 36 As Engrossed: H3/9/23 HB1513
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notice of elections, is amended to read as follows: 1
(ii) Information about the availability of the 2
Attorney General's election law violation hotline, including without 3
limitation the hotline telephone nu mber of the Attorney General's election 4
law violation hotline established under § 25-16-717 7-4-305; 5
6
SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 25 -16-717 is repealed. 7
25-16-717. Election law violation — Hotline. 8
(a)(1) The Attorney General shall establish and publish procedures to 9
receive complaints concerning violations of election law. 10
(2) The procedures shall include the operation of a toll -free 11
hotline and may include procedures to receive written complaints through the 12
mail, email, or fax. 13
(3) Knowingly filing a false claim of a violation of election 14
law is a Class A misdemeanor punishable under § 7 -1-103(c). 15
(b)(1) The Attorney General shall report all complaints received to 16
the Joint Performance Review Committee within forty -five (45) days followi ng 17
the certified election results of a general election. 18
(2) The report may contain preliminary findings by the Attorney 19
General as to the validity of the complaint. 20
(3) The Joint Performance Review Committee may call a meeting 21
within thirty (30) day s of receipt of the report for the purpose of 22
investigating election law violations. 23
(c)(1) If the Attorney General receives a complaint and finds it is 24
likely that a violation of election law has occurred, the Attorney General 25
shall forward the complain t to the Joint Performance Review Committee for 26
preliminary investigation and may forward the complaint to the appropriate 27
prosecuting attorney. 28
(2) The prosecuting attorney may deputize the Attorney General 29
to act on the prosecuting attorney's behalf i f the prosecuting attorney has a 30
conflict of interest in the investigation. 31
(3) If the Attorney General is deputized by the prosecuting 32
attorney, the Attorney General may investigate or prosecute the alleged 33
violation of election law. 34
35
/s/McCollum 36